Gareth Taylor had urged fans to be patient with his new-look Manchester City squad after a hefty turnover of players this summer, but after a disjointed performance in a blistering defeat to Aston Villa, spearheaded by Rachel Daly, City fans were left with more questions than answers about their club and the manager.
It was Aston Villa’s first win over Manchester City in five attempts, having conceded 17 and failed to score in their previous four meetings, and they were made to work hard for the win at Villa Park, with City coming from two goals down to take the lead before Villa upped the press on an unconvincing City backline and secured the victory. “It’s a tough one to take,” said Taylor. “I thought we were off it a little bit in the first half, got a lifeline just before half-time and then turned the game around in 10 minutes of the second half. “At that point we looked like we were finding our rhythm but if you score three goals and still don’t get anything out of the game — even a draw — it tells you everything about what we were like without the ball.” There was only room in the starting XI for one of Taylor’s seven new recruits, with the former Atlético Madrid midfielder Laia Aleixandri making her debut in a midfield that sorely missed the bite provided by Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway, who departed for Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively in the summer.
Aleixandri would feel the pressure in the build-up to the opening goal, being dispossessed by Villa’s new striker Daly before Alisha Lehmann latched on to the loose ball, raced away on the right and fired low past Ellie Roebuck.
The goal was worthy of the home performance, with Carla Ward’s Villa side pressing, harrying and brimming with confidence. Ward