London City Lionesses Begin New Era with Victory Over Man Utd
The banners, the cameras, the sell-out crowd at Hayes Lane – all eyes were on Alexia Putellas and the beginning of London City Lionesses’ star-studded revolution. By full-time, the story was bigger than one debut. This looked like a team ready to bully its way into the Women’s Super League elite.
They beat Manchester United 2-1. The scoreline flattered United.
Own goal sparks London City’s new dawn
The opening goal of the 2026/27 campaign came from the most uncomfortable of sources. Nine minutes in, Julia Zigiotti tangled with Alanna Kennedy in the box, misjudged the flight of the ball and steered a header past her own goalkeeper. A messy moment, but a ruthless reward for London City’s early aggression.
From there, the hosts took a grip and never really loosened it. Putellas, the two-time Ballon d'Or winner whose arrival has changed the scale of the club overnight, floated between the lines and drew United’s midfield out of shape. Around her, the new pieces clicked.
Rosa Kafaji buzzed with intent and went close just after the break, forcing a smart save from Phallon Tullis-Joyce with a long-range drive on 49 minutes. Mapi Leon marshalled from the back. Janni Thomsen added bite and balance. London City’s tempo pinned United deep, and the visitors rarely escaped.
On the touchline, owner Michele Kang watched the project she has bankrolled take its first real step. In the stands, the crowd responded to every press, every interception, every flash of Putellas’ class. This didn’t feel like a tentative beginning. It felt like a team that had already decided who it wants to be.
Van de Donk magic seals it
United did get a brief reprieve when Lucia Corrales left the pitch clutching her shoulder on 64 minutes, an early concern for London City on an otherwise buoyant night. But the pattern of the game barely changed. United stayed on the back foot, short of ideas and short of belief.
The pressure finally told with eight minutes of normal time left. Danielle van de Donk, all instinct and invention, produced the moment of the match. A clever flick inside the area – improvised, audacious, decisive – doubled the lead and effectively killed the contest. One flash of quality, and London City had the scoreline their dominance deserved.
By then, United’s frustration was obvious. They had not managed a single shot on target. Their press was disjointed, their passing hesitant. The gulf in sharpness, and in sheer star power, was stark.
Only deep into stoppage time did they register anything of note. Substitute Simi Awujo pounced with virtually the last kick of the game, tucking away a consolation to make it 2-1. It was United’s only shot on target all evening – a statistic that underlined just how one-sided this had been.
Maestre’s identity on show
Eder Maestre did not hide his satisfaction. The London City head coach has talked about identity all summer; here, he saw it on the pitch.
“Starting with a win is very important to keep building confidence,” he said. “I think we were very dominant through the whole game. I really think we deserved this win. I hope this kind of result makes the difference in the way we can keep playing in the next games we have.
“That’s the identity we want – that’s why I’m very proud of the team.
“Sometimes you need to take some risks to play in that way. The team played with the togetherness that I think are going to be the most important value to respect.
“I think we are one step closer to hitting the targets. I’m very excited and very happy.”
His words matched what unfolded: a high-risk, high-control approach, underpinned by big-game players and a collective hunger. Mary Earps and Kadidiatou Diani, both unused on the bench, did not even need to be called upon. That in itself said plenty about the depth now at Maestre’s disposal.
United searching for themselves
On the opposite bench, Eva Olid cut a more troubled figure. She saw a United side that never really arrived in the first half and only flickered into life once the damage was done.
“I think none of us are happy with the first half. We were not us,” she admitted. “Nothing that we have been working on was happening in the first half.
“In the half-time, it was me saying to them, this is not us, we need to have confidence, belief, show we want the ball, that has to be us.
“There was a change in the second half but at the end but I said at the end that needs to be 90 minutes. It’s not enough just 40 minutes trying to have the ball.”
Her assessment was blunt. United’s late goal did little to disguise the broader problem: against a side brimming with fresh quality and conviction, they looked short in almost every department.
A new power taking shape?
The bare facts from Hayes Lane tell a simple story. London City Lionesses 2, Manchester United 1. Zigiotti’s early own goal, Van de Donk’s sublime flick, Awujo’s last-gasp consolation.
The feel of it was something else entirely. This was a club unveiling a new face to the league – Putellas, Leon, Kafaji, Thomsen all bedding in at once, Earps and Diani waiting in reserve, Kang watching on as her investment translated into control on the pitch.
One game does not define a season. But if this is what London City look like on day one of their new era, what will they look like once this team truly settles?
