Women’s FA Cup photo essay – road to Wembley, fourth round: Nottingham Forest v Manchester City

As Manchester City had not been in great form during 2021/22 and leaving them 12 points behind Women’s Super League leaders Arsenal, Forest, who went into the game on the back of a five game unbeaten run, would have been hopeful of an upset. However, despite the magic and romance of the FA Cup, with two divisions separating the visiting WSL side and hosts Forest, who play in the Women’s National League Northern Premier, it really was a case of David v Goliath with Manchester City, despite having a number of star names missing, proving too strong for their lower league opponents.

It was the second time this season that Nottingham Forest had played at the City Ground with 3994 rocking up for the fourth round cup tie.

Derby University Sports journalism student Chloe Reynolds, who attended the game, said: “I like to go to as many matches as possible, including my own team Everton.” At the final whistle Reynolds might have wished she had put a bet on as when asked what she thought the score would be, she said: “8-0 to Man City.”

Fans Daniel Raven and Joshua Malpass kept warm in the stands despite only wearing their Forest shirts and scarves for protection against the cold.

The visiting fans had something to celebrate just two minutes in when Caroline Weir opened the scoring, firing home a left-footed shot from just outside the six-yard box. Despite dominating the game, the City fans had to wait until the 34th minute for a second goal which came when Khadija Shaw headed home a Filippa Angeldahl corner. The visitors went into half time three goals to the good after Angeldahl beat the offside trap to latch onto Alex Greenwood‘s floated pass before poking into the bottom corner.

Lucy Bronze was one of the Manchester City’s stars