Bunny Shaw scored the goal that got Manchester City back into the match against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League on Friday.
City came back from a goal down to win 2-1 – and Shaw scored the goal that drew them level, leaping to nod home just before the hour.
It was a cross from Leila Ouahabi that reached the number nine’s head – and the Jamaica striker revealed afterwards that the pair had words before the match to discuss their link-up.
“We spoke about it before the game when we found out she was starting, I told her I needed an assist,” she explained to the club’s official website.
“We’ve been trying and working on it, so when she got it I knew I had to be there because I knew it was coming in.”
Bunny Shaw: When games get tough, we have to find a way
Fran Kirby had put Brighton a goal up at half-time before Shaw got one back – and Yui Hasegawa scored the winner in the 74th minute.
It gave City their first three points of the season after their 2-1 defeat to defending champions Chelsea last weekend. In that opening fixture, goals from Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano put the Blues 2-0 up before a Niamh Charles own-goal put City back in contention for the closing 20 minutes.
And Shaw suggested that there might be plenty of close games and narrow scorelines over the course of the season.
“I think [grinding out results], that’s what we’ve got to do,” Shaw added.
“Some games won’t go how we plan it, but we just have to find a way to get the win if that means grinding it out to the final whistle that’s what we have to do.
“It showed our determination in this game and that’s something we have to keep building on, when games get tough, we have to find a way.”
Andree Jeglertz: We must find different ways of scoring
Head coach Andree Jeglertz agreed, saying after the match: “We scored on a cross but one of the key things for us is to find different ways of scoring, now we have a central combo with Yui scoring.
“It shows we’re unpredictable and gives us more opportunities to create scoring chances.
“With Yui’s intelligence to find spaces where she can arrive, also the goal was fantastic combination play.”
Manchester City’s next game in the WSL is on Friday, 19th September, when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur.
