Shaw lauds Man City comeback as vital in WSL decided by ´fine margins´

Khadija Shaw hailed Manchester City’s comeback victory over Liverpool as “fine margins” will decide the Women’s Super League.

City striker Shaw was twice on target at Anfield on Sunday in the second half, netting a late winner with a ferocious finish from close range.

That capped a remarkable turnaround for the visiting City, who had earlier trailed from Olivia Smith’s stinging 41st-minute strike.

Victory lifted City to the top of the league after four games, and last season’s top WSL scorer Shaw referenced the importance of such wins in what is expected to be another tight division.

“It’s a very important win because we know how tight this league is,” Shaw told Sky Sports. “Fine margins will decide the championship.

“We knew it was going to be tough but we wanted to stick to what we know we are capable of doing.

“It was very difficult as they went with five at the back; credit to Liverpool. We spoke at half-time about how we can cause problems with balls into the box. I got the goal so it worked!”

The victory also ended a fantastic week for City, who beat Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

City are now unbeaten in their opening four WSL matches for the first time since 2019-20, and last year’s runners-up look well set to challenge again this term.

Securing all three points at Anfield!

Bunny Shaw, take it away… pic.twitter.com/972HpImVJC

— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 13, 2024

Such a start would not have been possible without Shaw, however, as the forward shrugged off the challenge of Niamh Fahey and lashed into the top-right corner to secure the points for Gareth Taylor’s team.

“For me, I knew where the goal was and so I positioned myself in between the ball and the defender,” Shaw said of her late heroics.

“I just focused on hitting it as hard as possible and getting it on target.”

Liverpool were without manager Matt Beard due to illness, though his assistant Scott Rogers felt the Reds deserved a share of the spoils at home.

“I thought we deserved a point from the game,” Rogers said. “We frustrated them for large periods which was part of the game plan and we were dangerous on the counter.

“We got our goal from Olivia Smith from that kind of situation in the first half. We limited them to two shots on target in the whole game and we had three, so that tells you a lot about the game.

“We didn’t have a lot of the ball but I felt we were in control in periods. We made one or two defensive errors towards the end and they punished us.”