A crowd of over 4,200 enjoyed a sunny Sunday afternoon in Manchester and a tight and fiercely contested tussle between the title winners Manchester City and a trophy hungry Birmingham City side.
As a group of players they don’t come much more stubborn than the Blues and arguably they started the brighter. Kirsty Linnett’s long range effort on 3 minutes flew wide of Mary Hourihan’s left upright but it hinted that the attacking threat was always lurking, especially with an energetic Mel Lawley harassing and chasing everything for Birmingham.
Gradually City grew into the game in terms of the amount of possession they had and it was good work by skipper Steph Houghton up on the right flank, that led to a chance for fellow centre back Jen Beattie, whose neat drive was pushed around the post by Ann-Katrin Berger. It wasn’t to be the last time the Blues keeper was called into action.
Both Nikita Parris and Toni Duggan had chances before the half time break as City pushed forward and largely dominated but each time Berger or her packed defence – with Jess Carter tireless in the deep midfield role protecting a central back three of Sargeant, Westwood and Mannion – and managed to repel or stifle City’s waves of attacks.
Bouyed by the level scoreline at the break it was again the visitors that looked most lively at the start of the second half. City manager Nick Cushing bemoaned after the game that he felt from about 65 mins onwards that his team – despite effort and good work elsewhere on the field – could have played all week and not scored, such was the dearth in quality and a cutting edge in the final third. Cue the entry of Olympic Silver medallist Kosovare Asllani (being watched form the stands by her national team coach Pia Sundhage), on for Parris, who added a little extra zip to the right wing. So often it was Lucy Bronze overlapping on the right that was creating near openings for City and in the 69th minute it was her cross that Izzy Christiansen got agonisingly close to, as it flashed across the face of the goal before being expertly cleared by Marissa Ewers at the far post.
Four minutes late it was Asllani’s turn to draw ‘oooohs’ from the crowd as her fantastic turn lost her defender and created space to run into but again Berger was equal to it, quickly out to save at her feet.
As the game ticked on, extra time seemed inevitable though not without a few breathless and exciting minutes in time added on to the 90. First a goalmouth scramble followed a Birmingham corner and then within seconds it was up the other end for more 18 yard box frenetic action.
The final thirty minutes, despite inevitably tiring legs, saw little change in the pattern of play, with Manchester City largely pressing forward and eventually it paid dividends, just before the turn around. It wasn’t pretty but it was enough, after the excellent German keeper Berger came for Toni Duggan’s corner but didn’t get enough purchase on the punch, Player of the Match Lucy Bronze’s looping header back towards goal evaded everyone and nestled in the net to spark ecstatic celebrations both on and off the field in the Academy Stadium. The double was on and they weren’t letting go.
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It was a big ask from Birmingham in tough circumstances, with 95% of the crowd cheering City, but they can be proud of their efforts. The sky blues were slightly off colour under the blue skies but again they did enough to win. And their manager Nick Cushing, whose wife was in labour while he was masterminding another trophy win, is now celebrating the birth of their baby daughter. What a week. And with Champions League action coming up on Thursday at home to Russian side Zvezda-2005, it’s not quite over yet!
England v France
Fri, 21 Oct 2016
8:00pm, Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster
Prices
Adults £7.50
Children/Conc £3.50
Family of 4 £15 (2 adults + 2 children)
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