Shaw scores twice on Man City return to beat Liverpool

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw scored twice on her return to Manchester City Women’s starting XI as they beat Liverpool Women 4-0 in the WSL.

The striker did not feature in last weekend’s FA Cup win against Leicester after she was subjected to racist and misogynistic abuse following a 4-3 defeat to Arsenal.

But she made a defiant return to the squad for Sunday’s game, opening the scoring on the half an hour. She turned home Mary Fowler’s fine pass, and after celebrating with her teammates she then performed a ‘Black Power’ salute by bowing her head and raising her fist in a response to the recent racist abuse that she has suffered.

The gesture was made famous by American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympics in 1968 as a stand against racism.

Just before the break, a fine finish from Shaw doubled Man City’s lead. It was Fowler who set her up again, cutting the ball back for her teammate to bring the ball down excellently and slam home.

Speaking about Shaw and the abuse she faced after the game, Sky Sports’ Izzy Christensen said: “It’s a brilliant level of self-awareness from Shaw to take herself out of the equation, because as footballers, we’re very competitive people and your brain can do funny things at times.

“If you’re not in the right headspace when you’re in your performance arena, you might do something silly and you could end up suffering more because of not being in the correct headspace because of something else externally.

“We know the abuse Shaw received has affected her because she took a step away from the game. That’s not the person providing that abuse winning, it’s actually Shaw winning because what she’s done this evening is score two goals.

“She’s in an exceptional headspace and she’s answered whatever that person has said. Shaw’s come out and she’s shown people there’s no place in football for any sort of nastiness.

“Unfortunately, that’s what social media is. It’s an access point for people to do such things, which ultimately makes you stronger in the long term. We don’t know how Shaw feels, but all you can do is understand and respect it. She proved her point tonight.”

The hosts continued to add to their tally after the break. Roord made it three on the hour, picking up the loose ball from a clearance. Her first effort was blocked, but the second pinpointed through the area and past Teagan Micah.

Gracie Prior then made it a first WSL start to remember with a fine goal – although it looked to be a cross. She drove down the right wing, sending the ball into the area and rather than finding a teammate, it swung into the top corner, past Micah’s outstretched hand.

Although Liverpool will come away bruised from their trip to the Joie Stadium, they weren’t without their chances. Ceri Holland saw an effort cleared off the line by Rebecca Knaak in the first half, while substitute Cornelia Kapocs forced two brilliant saves from Ayaka Yamashita.

In terms of the table, Man City remain in fourth, now just two points behind Arsenal. Liverpool remain in seventh place on 15 points.

Taylor: We could have scored more goals

Man City head coach Gareth Taylor to Sky Sports: “I think the girls delivered the game plan really well. We knew that Liverpool would be aggressive and they had some moments, probably more than we would like.

“We made changes in the second half, we adapted a few things, but I thought the way we got players forward into the box early on was really good… we potentially could have had a couple more goals.”

On Shaw: “If you look over the last few seasons, the amount of goals she’s scored, of course we do [rely on her]. If you take that away, does it mean that someone else is going to go in there and score those goals? Who knows.

“She’s very different in terms of the types of goals that she can score, but has, at the moment, wingers that are doing well for her, midfield players who are providing for her as well. I’m sure she really relishes playing in this team because she knows she’s going to get chances.”

On Mary Fowler: “For someone who’s still so very young, she plays a lot. She’s really important for us and she can play in various positions as well. She helps the team with her quality. When you see her in that vein of form she’s been in, I think she’s pretty hard to play against.

“We’re a little bit concerned with her hamstring problem and we need to make sure that’s managed well and we couldn’t take any risks towards the end.”

Beard takes responsibility for first half performance

Liverpool manager Matt Beard to Sky Sports: “In the first half, maybe – well not maybe – I did get it wrong. We needed to adapt things quicker, but we had so many chances to score… it could have been 6-4 to be perfectly honest with you.

“We were too passive in the first half. We didn’t break forward quick enough, we were too slow to get into positions to play and we were too transitional and we’re worried about maybe turning the ball over and getting countered on.

“But if we don’t get in the positions then we’re not going to be able to possess the ball and I thought second half, we did that a little bit better. It’s a frustrating night for us.

“It’s the belief that you can do it against these top sides. Because of the season that we’ve had, we’ve had a little bit of doubt in these games against top teams, but like I said to the girls before the game, since we’ve been back in the WSL, I think we’ve picked up 21 points against the top sides in the division, so we know we can do it, it’s just having that little bit of belief. We’ve just got to get our heads down on the training ground, continue to work hard.”

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