Manchester City Edges Liverpool 4-2 in Thrilling WSL Clash
Lauren Hemp struck in the opening minutes and again deep into stoppage time as Manchester City survived a major scare to beat Liverpool 4-2 and keep their perfect WSL title defence alive at the Joie Stadium.
For 90 minutes, that record looked ready to crack. City’s 13-game winning streak on their own patch wobbled, lurched and almost snapped under a bold Liverpool side who refused to be intimidated by the champions’ aura. Only when the clock turned red did the game finally tilt for good.
Hemp lights the fuse, Liverpool hit back
City started like a team in complete control of their kingdom. On 13 minutes, they carved Liverpool open with a slick, sweeping move, and Hemp – still waiting for her first goal since November – arrived to finish it off. One touch, one clean strike, and the champions were off and running.
Liverpool didn’t flinch. They bit back.
A defensive mix-up in the City back line on 19 minutes opened the door for Alice Bergstrom, who pounced and drilled home the equaliser. Suddenly, the Joie Stadium was restless. City’s rhythm stuttered, Liverpool’s belief grew.
The visitors sensed something more. After a spell of pressure, Vivien Endemann – already influential, already a problem – stepped forward. On 28 minutes she met a loose ball and volleyed in a superb effort that fizzed through Ayaka Yamashita’s outstretched hand. From 1-0 down to 2-1 up, Liverpool were full value for their lead.
Shaw drags City back into it
City, rattled, turned to their most reliable weapon. Khadija “Bunny” Shaw had already rattled the post on 39 minutes as she hunted another goal in her pursuit of a third straight Golden Boot. Liverpool survived that warning. They did not survive the next.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Hemp tested Khiara Keating with a low effort. The former City goalkeeper spilled it, and Shaw did what she does best – reacted first, stabbed the rebound in from close range. 2-2 at the break, and a reminder why keeping Shaw this summer might prove City’s most important piece of business.
The second half opened with the same edge. Shaw again forced Keating into action on the hour, the Liverpool keeper tipping over a rising effort as City tried to wrestle the game back. Liverpool, though, continued to harry and press, making smarter choices in key areas and asking questions of a usually composed City back line.
Errors decide it at the death
In the end, it was mistakes that wrote the final chapter.
With the game ticking into the 90th minute and both sides braced for a point, disaster struck for Liverpool. A cross caused panic, and Reds captain Grace Fisk sliced horribly into her own net to hand City a 3-2 lead just as five minutes of added time went up.
Liverpool reacted with desperation. They threw bodies forward, chasing an equaliser that would have underlined just how far they’ve come. Instead, they left the door wide open for the quickest player on the pitch.
Hemp saw the space and went. In the 95th minute, she exploded downfield on the counter, racing clear and bearing down on Keating. With time to think – often a forward’s worst enemy – she picked her spot and slid the ball past her former team-mate to seal it, 4-2.
“I don’t usually score goals,” Hemp told Sky Sports afterwards, half-joking but with two to her name on the night. She admitted that, on that final breakaway, the time she had almost unnerved her. It didn’t show.
Her manager Andree Jeglertz called her “a game changer” and praised a City side that “never stop believing”. They needed every ounce of that mentality here.
Liverpool’s new face
The scoreboard says defeat. The performance says something else entirely.
This Liverpool side is a long way from the fragile group that stumbled through last season. A year ago, the club was dealing with deep emotional loss after the departures of former boss Matt Beard and long-serving kitman Jon Humble. Injuries piled up. Momentum never arrived.
Now, under Gareth Taylor, there is structure, bite and ambition. Endemann, a summer arrival from Wolfsburg, looked nothing like a player still new to the league. She played with the authority of a seasoned WSL regular, combining dangerously with Beta Olsson and Bergstrom and repeatedly unsettling City’s defence.
For long stretches, Liverpool pressed with more conviction, made sharper decisions and carried more belief. They matched the champions physically and tactically, only to be undone by late errors and the ruthless quality City possess in the final third.
Taylor, reflecting on a night that almost preserved their unbeaten start, pointed to the gap in depth. City could change games from the bench; Liverpool had two 16-year-olds among their substitutes. That difference told in the closing minutes, even if his side’s attitude and application stayed at the highest level.
It took Liverpool 12 games to reach four points last season. They are already there after three and sit third in the table. City, five points clear at the summit ahead of the weekend’s remaining fixtures, look relentless again.
But if this is how Liverpool now travel to the champions’ ground and perform, how long before nights like this end with them on the right side of the scoreline?
