Bunny Shaw extends Women's Super League goal tally in Man City's hard-fought win over Liverpool

Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw extended her goalscoring run to six goals in five games and Lauren Hemp ran around the red shirts for fun, in the 2-1 win against Liverpool.

City made nine changes from their Continental Cup 6-0 defeat over Blackburn Rovers midweek, with right back Kerstin Casparij and Esme Morgan the only two players to feature in both starting line-ups. It was Gareth Taylor’s unchanged WSL side for the third time in a row.

Liverpool opted for seven changes from their Cup outing against Leicester with Shanice van de Sanden on the bench, returning from injury.

The visitors put City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck under pressure early on, with the relentless chase and high press of Melissa Lawley, Stengel and Missy Bo Kearns causing problems for the City back four.

Shaw created the first chance on goal - heading a deep cross on target within the first 15 minutes which Liverpool goalkeeper Rachael Laws did well to stop. Kearns replied with an early shot skimming just wide of goal, attempting to catch City goalkeeper Roebuck out.

High energy from Liverpool’s Emma Koivisto gave Hemp no time on the ball, chasing the City attack down to force the hosts back into their own half. Hemp skipped between three red shirts to slot a through ball to Shaw and an inside foot finish flew straight into the bottom corner to give City the lead in the 22nd minute.

City were nearly punished by poor decision-making from Roebuck when her pass to Yui Hasegawa was intercepted by Kearns near the penalty spot but it was recovered by the City goalkeeper with a diving save.

Hungry for more, Stengel stole the ball off Alex Greenwood’s toes, took a touch and found the equaliser thirteen minutes after going behind with her third goal of the season. Within