'Real boost' - Mikey Harris finds a major positive despite Brighton's hefty defeat to Man City - WSL

Although City certainly proved their quality, Harris said his side “didn’t make the most” of their good moments.

Manchester City winger Lauren Hemp opened the scoring after latching onto a pacy ball from fellow teammate Jess Park. Hemp’s impressive pace allowed her to slide in and tap the ball past Brighton goalkeeper from close range.

The away side doubled their advantage in 40th minute as Hemp provided the assist this time round. Her searching ball toward the back of the 18 yard box was met by fellow winger Mary Fowler, who ran in to tap the ball past Sophie Baggaley and claim her fourth goal of the season.

Gareth Taylor’s City added to their tally in the second half with goals from Khadija Shaw and Laura Coombs. Whilst Shaw’s goal was executed with her head, and came following a cross into the box from Yui Hasegawa, a pulled back ball from Fowler allowed Coombs to hit the ball home for her side in 78th minute.

Brighton were not to finish the game empty handed though, as substitute striker Geum-min Lee latched onto a cross from fellow teammate Veatriki Sarri and volleyed home a consolation.

Manager reaction

Harris said: “It was a tough day today, but I certainly think we had really positive spells today. I felt relatively comfortable, as comfortable as you can against Manchester City, in the first 25 minutes up until the goal. Unfortunately they’ve (City) have got that quality to punish you in those moments, and that’s what happened. Credit to the players though, they kept going right until the end and you can see that with the goal we scored.

“Today I felt like we showed what we want to look like in terms of the identity of the football club. We had moments with the ball which were good, and we had moments without the ball where we won the ball back in the areas we wanted to. From that, we had the opportunities to counter and we didn’t quite get the next bit right. Those are the fine margins at this level, and particularly when you’re coming up against an opponent as strong as Man City.

“Another positive for us from the game is a WSL debut for Grace McEwan. She has played in the cups this year, but this is her first appearance in the league and what an experience for her to play against Khadija Shaw. "We are a club that believes in our academy, we want to produce our own home grown players that know what it means to play for the football club and understand the club’s identity. To have her come on and play 15 minutes at the end today is a real boost for everyone.”

City boss Gareth Taylor said: “I thought the team executed the game plan really well. We knew we had to be patient, which isn’t easy as sometimes you feel like you want to go for an effort. For us in the first half it was about getting our decision making right at the top end of the pitch, sometimes it is to be patient, sometimes it is to take shots when we’re making passes, and sometimes it is to make passes when we’re taking shots.

“It’s important at this stage in the season to have different players scoring the goals like today. Mary Fowler has come into the team and scored her second goal in two games, we’re starting to see good things from her. Jess Park has come into the team as well and contributed really well. The solid foundations we have with Khiara (Keating) and the two centre backs and Hasegawa too are fantastic. I thought she (Hasegawa) was amazing today, especially in the first half I thought she was outstanding.

“We have six games left, we don’t have to be dependent on anyone else. It’s really tough to win games, I think people see the game and they see it played on paper. It was a long journey yesterday and it was a difficult surface today, but the players put in a really good performance. I think when you put in a good performance, it doesn’t guarantee you a win but it gives you a good chance.”

On 10 consecutive wins in the WSL, “We have a lot of belief, but we know how tough it is (to win the WSL). I think to be in the position we are in, the players deserve great credit. We were top of the league early in the season, then within a couple of games we were trailing by six points. We claw that back amazingly well and the group deserves great credit for that.

“I’ll always look at the bigger picture and whether we’re successful or not at the end of the season, we’ll be really honest in how we feel we’ve done. We have a really good chance and it’s an exciting position to be in.”

Brighton XI: Baggaley, Thorisdottir, Bergsvand (Mengwen), Losada C (Symonds), Zigiotti, Terland, Carabali (McEwan), Kullberg, Pinto (Sarri), Haley (Lee), Robinson

Man City XI: Keating, Aleixandri (Kennedy), Greenwood C, Coombs (Blindkilde), Flower, Hemp (Kelly), Ouahabi, Park, Casparij (Morgan), Shaw, Hasegawa (Mace)

Match action

Despite the away side taking control of possession in the early proceedings of the match, neither side had produced any even mildly promising chances when the game reached the 15 minute mark. In fact, it was the Seagulls who produced the most threatening attack of the half when winger Elisabeth Terland found herself just outside the six yard box. Terland’s shot at the City goalkeeper was a powerful one and forced Khiara Keating to make the save, however immediately after was deemed offside by referee Megan Wilson.

From this chance it seemed that Brighton had gained some confidence, increasing their possession and looking the more threatening of the two sides. For all of Brighton’s positive attacking intent though, the Cityzens took their chance in 27th minute to open the scoring in their favour. A pacy ball was played into the path of Hemp from talented youngster Park, with Hemp’s pace allowing her to slide in and tap the ball past Brighton goalkeeper, Baggaley, from the edge of the six yard box.

From this, and for the remainder of the first half, Manchester City took back control of the game, coming close to doubling their advantage on numerous occasions. A shot blocked following a superb solo run from Hemp, a Coombs header cleared on the line by Terland and a curling effort from Kerstin Casparij saved by Baggaley all denied City their second goal of the afternoon. Gareth Taylor’s side were to secure their second though, as a searching ball from Hemp- following a neat one-two from herself and Coombs- toward the back of the 18 yard box was met by Australian international Fowler. The winger, who hadn’t been picked up by Albion defender Emma Kullberg, came running into the six yard box to tap the ball into the net as the half neared its conclusion.

Second half

Manchester City opened the second half just as they had concluded the half: in a dominant fashion. Hemp was denied a second goal of the afternoon by the post, as her shot from the edge of the 18 yard box was inches too far to the right. As the match entered its 65th minute, a superbly weighted ball was played in the path of City striker Shaw by right-back Casparij. Shaw looked to have a clear run at goal having seemingly shaken off Brighton defender Jorelyn Carabali, however it seemed the Albion defender had other ideas. Carabali pulled Shaw back just as she looked to stride into the box, causing referee Wilson to stop the game and book the defender. The impressive freekick from Alex Greenwood which followed was met by an even more impressive save from Baggaley, as she lunged to her right to stop the ball nestling into the bottom left.

A third goal was to be added to the tally for Manchester City though, as a ball into the box from Hasegawa found the head of Shaw at the back of a crowded 18 yard box. Although this goal certainly ended the game as a contest, Albion’s heads did not drop. On a few occasions the side looked to have broken through City’s line of defence, however they were unable to get a clear look in on goal despite their efforts.

It was in 78th minute when Coombs secured her side a fourth goal of the game, after a ball from Fowler was pulled back to the midfielder in the centre of the 18 yard box. The Manchester City midfielder was unmarked and subsequently had time to pick her spot, opting to drill the ball into the bottom left corner. It seemed Gareth Taylor wasn’t satisfied with the four goal lead though, as he decided to ring the changes in 79th and 83rd minute respectively. Chloe Kelly, Alanna Kennedy and Esme Morgan were amongst the changes made by the City boss.

In spite of these energised additions to the Manchester City side, they were not to find their desired fifth goal of the game in order to match Chelsea Women’s goal difference of 34. In fact, it was Brighton who had the last say when it came to the scoreline, as substitute Lee scored in the first minute of the additional four. Terland’s pass found Sarri on the left flank, whose cross into the box was met by Lee on the volley to secure her side a consolation.

The goal would not dampen City’s spirits too greatly however, as Taylor’s side had managed to secure the three points they crucially needed in order to keep their title hopes alive and kicking. For Albion, the game had proved to be another testing fixture in which they were outclassed for large parts.

What’s next

Following this defeat, the Seagulls will face Leicester City Women away at King Power Stadium on Sunday 21st March, 3pm kick-off. Brighton currently sit 10th in the WSL table with 14 points from 16 games.