Hayley Raso earned praise after netting her fourth goal from her past six games while Alanna Kennedy made his return after months out with a shoulder injury for Manchester City.
Raso and Kennedy along with Mary Fowler were all in action for Manchester City in England’s Womens’ League Cup on Sunday as they beat Sunderland 3-0.
The Matildas winger scored City’s second goal in the 48th minute, collecting a headed ball forward and sprinting in on goal before executing a clinical and composed finish. Raso almost got a second goal late on but was denied by an offside flag.
Raso and Fowler both played full games, while Kennedy came on as a 76th minute substitute for City, having not played since early September due to injury. Raso had missed City’s last game with a “dead leg”.
City boss Gareth Taylor heaped praise on Raso after the game, when he said: “With Hayley I’ve spoken to her and even when she played at Everton, she has that capacity to be a threat. I think she has a lot in her makeup to be one of the best wingers in the game.
“One of the big reason or not as to whether she will achieve that will be down to her decision making. She’s so quick, tough, takes the knocks, can go through on goal and score hat-tricks.
“I’ve seen her score in flurries and to be fair to her, the numbers in front of goal this season have been good over the last few weeks considering she hasn’t played every single game. When we brought Hayley to the Club, it was to see if we could bring out those real good things in her and help her to be as consistent as possible.
“That’s what you’d say about the very best in the world, the consistency of level of performance. We just need to keep pushing Hayley in that space because I think she’s capable.”
What a performance from @HayleyRaso! 🤩⚡️
🔵 3-0 🐈⬛ #ManCity | @EASPORTS pic.twitter.com/DudHEfGflP
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) November 27, 2022
Mackenzie Arnold kept a clean sheet as West Ham United got past Birmingham City 2-0 in the English Women’s League Cup on Sunday.
Emily Gielnik was an unused substitute as Aston Villa edged Durham 1-0 on Sunday.
Clare Wheeler put in a full shift as Everton won 3-0 over Sheffield United on Saturday.
In the Women’s UEFA Champions League in midweek, Sam Kerr played a full game but didn’t score as Chelsea won 2-0 over Real Madrid.
Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord both put in a full shifts as Arsenal drew 1-1 at Joe Montemurro’s Juventus, while Teagan Micah was in goal as Rosengard lost 1-0 at Benfica. Lydia Williams was on the bench as PSG won 5-0 over Vllaznia.
Others
Full games
Winonah Heatley, Matilda McNamara
Minutes
Angela Beard – ST 81
Notable absentees
Lydia Williams
