Mersey pride for Liverpool Ladies over Blues in cup
Liverpool Ladies progressed to the quarter-finals of the Continental Cup after a deserved 1-0 win over local rivals Everton at the Select Security Stadium in Widnes on Saturday afternoon.
The only goal of the game came on the stroke of half-time when Alex Greenwood’s corner was headed into her own net by the unfortunate Dan Turner.
Going into the tie, Scott Rogers made a couple of changes from last Sunday’s draw with Manchester City in the Women’s Super League, with Emma Lundh and Mandy Van Den Berg given an opportunity to impress.
Despite their opponents being in the division below Liverpool, Rogers had predicted a tough test against the Blues and the manager wasn’t wrong in his pre-match assessment.
Andy Spence’s side started brightly and on seven minutes had a great chance when Rosella Ayane ran clear towards goal, but out of nowhere Satara Murray raced back to make a magnificent challenge and clear the danger.
Sophie Ingle had Liverpool’s first meaningful chance of the game on 19 minutes when her header cleared the bar after a set-piece.
After a very scrappy period of play the Blues almost took the lead on 39 minutes. Former Red Claudia Walker did superbly well to create an opening for Ayane, who in turn found Chloe Kelly in space. The No.15 seemed certain to score but for a truly magnificent save from Siobhan Chamberlain.
Two minutes before the break, Rogers’ charges created their best chance so far as the outstanding Greenwood drilled in a fierce effort that was superbly kept out by the reflexes of Kirstie Levell.
As the clock struck 45 minutes Liverpool Ladies went in front when Greenwood’s corner was headed into her own net by Turner. It was a killer blow for the Blues but in truth the Reds didn’t look back from this moment as their opponents struggled to create an opening in the second half.
Dutch winger Shanice Van De Sanden is always exciting when she has space on the wing, and her trickery almost created a second goal on 55 minutes. She danced past two players down the right but her inviting cross was cleared away.
Substitute Rosie White then almost made it 2-0 when she produced a sweet turn in the penalty area and fired an effort just wide, while two minutes later a free-kick from Greenwood found Ingle, whose header was superbly kept out by Levell.
Everton’s hopes of getting back into the tie were made even harder on 71 minutes when ex-Red Ellie Stewart was shown a straight red card for a two-footed challenge.
Liverpool Ladies: Chamberlain, Murray, Greenwood, Van Den Berg (Longhurst 72), Bonner, Ingle, Zelem, Weir, Harding, Lundh (White 45), Van De Sanden (Hodson 87). Subs not used: Gibbons, Harris, Coombs, Charles.