Manchester City took the lead early on, took the lead in the second half, but had the strength to react with goals from Fujino and Mary Fowler to maintain their lead in Group D of the Champions League and also their unbeaten record this season.
how it was
Gareth Taylor made six changes to the starting lineup in Vienna, compared to the team that beat Liverpool in the English championship last Sunday (13). We had a change in goal, with Keiting gaining an opportunity in Yamashita’s place, and also two changes in attack, with the departures of Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hempwhich gave rise to Chloe Kelly e Aoba Fujino. However, the big news was the debut of Codie Thomas at right-back, making his professional debut with the City shirt.
And the game started with City taking control of the actions in Vienna. Even away from home, the team Gareth Taylor He tried to impose his pace and opened the scoring early on in the match in Austria. At 5 minutes, Codie Thomas made a beautiful play on the right side, cut two markers and passed it to Chloe Kelly. The 09 shirt crossed, Aoba Fujino fixed it, and Alanna Kennedy he fired a bomb on the rebound and scored a great goal with his right leg, the first for the number 14 in the current edition of the Champions League.
Well on the field, City continued to put pressure on St Polten. At 10 minutes, Jess Park had a good opportunity at the edge of the area, but the shot was missed, making it easier for goalkeeper Schluter to save. The home team’s first shot came just after 14 minutes, but City remained sovereign on the pitch, exchanging good passes and achieving 71% ball possession in the first 20 minutes in Vienna.
In the 30th minute, City almost scored a second goal, from a corner taken from the right side, towards the second goal. St Polten’s goalkeeper didn’t find the ball, Alanna Kennedy He climbed beautifully, but didn’t reach it either, regretting the lost opportunity. Soon after, Blindkilde Brown invaded the area and hit the ball, aiming for the corner, but Schluter was alert to practice defense. On the rebound, our number 20, Fujino, cleared the marker and finished strong, but the shot hit the post at Viola Park.
Tirelessly searching for the second goal, City hit the post again in the 36th minute. Chloe Kelly took a corner on the left side, the ball passed through the entire St Polten defense and found Mary Fowler. The number 08 shirt adjusted and hit consciously with his left leg, but a deflection by the Austrian defender was enough to make the shot stop at the home team’s crossbar.
With so much dominance on the field, it was important to score the second goal soon, but it was St Polten who found the net. In the 39th minute, during a corner kick, City’s defense was unable to clear the danger in the rebound and Brunnthaler was able to do so, already in the small area, to leave everything the same in Vienna. As that old football saying would say, whoever doesn’t do it, takes it…
And it was in a first half in which City were dominant, but weren’t so lucky with their finishing.
second half
Feeling that the team missed many opportunities in the initial stage, Gareth Taylor promoted a change already at half-time, with the entry of center forward Bunny Shaw in the starting position. Jess Park. At 51 minutes, the visitors’ first chance in the second half. Mary Fowler received it outside the area, looked at the goal and dropped a bomb, but the St Polten goalkeeper flew beautifully to send it to a corner.
At 53 minutes, the home team’s comeback. The ball was left in the area and Dubcova scored a beautiful goal, dominating and hitting a volley with his left leg. However, City’s reaction was not long in coming. Three minutes later, Chloe Kelly was launched on the right side, crossed into the area and Aoba Fujino He struck beautifully, first time, from close range, to score his first goal for the club and leave everything the same in Vienna.
Shortly afterwards, Taylor made three changes to the team, seeking to give more impetus to the fight for the three points. Hemp, Roord and Aleixandri took the place of Kelly, Brown and Codie Thomas. With the game more frank and open, more spaces began to appear for both teams. At 69, Bunny Shaw fired a counterattack, but was well disarmed by the Austrian defense. At 71, Hemp cleared two opponents, had the chance to shoot on goal, but opted to pass to Fujino, who wasted the cross.
At 74 minutes, Lauren Hempwho came in with great desire and willingness, went after the marking, but the attempt by number 11 went over the goal, without scaring the St Polten goalkeeper. Without giving up, City found their reward in the 80th minute. Lauren Hemp hit the corner with a lot of venom, and Mary Fowler He rose in the middle of the confusion to test firmly and turn the match around for the Manchester team!
In the following minutes, until the end of the match, City managed the result, without any further scares, guaranteeing the three points and the leadership of Group D of the Champions League.
how is it
With the result, City takes sole leadership of Group D of the Champions League, with two wins and six points in the first two rounds. And it still maintains its unbeaten record in the 24/25 season, with seven wins and a draw in eight matches so far.
next match
After another round of the Champions League, it’s time for our Cityzens to turn the key and think only about Aston Villa, their next opponent in the 5th round of the Women’s Super League. The ball rolls next Sunday (20), at 12:15 pm (Portugal), 8:15 am (Brazil), at Joie Stadium, in Manchester. With 10 points from four matches, City are looking to remain undefeated in the English championship. Aston Villa is 9th in the table, with two draws, two defeats and just two points so far.
lineups
ST POLTEN: Sluter; Mattner, Wenger, Klein (C), Krige; Mikolajova, Hillebrand, Dubcova, Brunnthaler, Pekel, Zver.
Reservas: Sieger, Abiral, D’Angelo, Johanning, Vracevic, Schumacher, Madl, Glibo, Krznaric.
Reserves: Startup, Aleixandri, Coombs, Roord, Hemp, Casparij, Shaw, Prior, Murphy and O’Carroll.
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