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Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City
By Gethin Thurlow (27/5/2025)
Above: Lauren Hemp proved to be the difference between the sides. Photo: Manchester City.
Lauren Hemp returned from injury ruthlessly, producing the crucial assist as Manchester City beat Leicester to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive.
It was a momentous occasion for Manchester City, as Club Captain Alex Greenwood also returned from a long-term knee injury, with both being out of action since the turn of the year.
However, City’s injury crisis in attack was still visible. With Internationals Khadija Shaw, Mary Fowler, Aoba Fujino and Viviane Miedema all still sidelined the responsibility of playing striker fell to Brazilian winger Kerolin, who continued to struggle to adapt to this – preferring to drop deep and pick up the ball rather than occupy space in the box and provide an outlet for crosses as a striker usually would.
This lack of presence in the Leicester City box forced Man City’s forward players to try something different, with Lily Murphy, Laura Coombs and Jess Park all trying several long-range efforts on Janina Leitzig’s goal.
The Introduction of Hemp and Greenwood on the hour mark brought about a shift instantly, with Hemp showcasing her skill and ball control to love past defenders and lay multiple crosses right across the face of the goal.
It only took ten minutes of this pressure until eventually one ball fell to Jess Park on the back post, who subsequently took a touch then whacked it into the net.
The final 20 minutes were focused on getting the result through for City and thanks to a number of strong saves and claims from goalkeeper Khiara Keating they were able to. While it was not a vintage performance, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for City in a season dominated by so many injuries to crucial players.
For Leicester, it was a very respectable showing after their 5-1 humbling by Arsenal last time out. The gameplan was based on quick counter attacks and utilising the space in behind City’s fullbacks Leila Ouhabi and Kerstin Caspirij who like to push up in attack.
This plan came to fruition nicely, with Leicester’s direct passing as soon as they won the ball catching the City backline out. Particularly, Hannah Cain was a constant threat down the right and would surely have scored had in not been for Keating in the City net.
Looking ahead to the future, Man City will be eagerly watching on Wednesday night as a Chelsea win will keep them four points behind Manchester United. This would allow them to reduce the gap to one if they can win the Manchester derby next Sunday at 12pm.
Leicester, who’s safety in the WSL was confirmed by a Crystal Palace defeat earlier on Sunday travel to Palace as they look to build some momentum towards the end of what has been a difficult first season for Amandine Miquel.
Teams: LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Leitzig (GK), Thibaud, Howard, Swaby (Captain), Ale, Tierney, Cayman, Cain, Momiki, Chossenotte, O’Brien. Substitutes: Clark (GK), Eiríksdóttir, Goodwin, Las, Nevin, Rose, Sherwood, Takarada, Torres
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Keating (GK), Caspirij, Prior, Knaack, Ouhabi, Aleixandri (Captain), Hasegawa, Coombs, Park, Kerolin, Murphy. Substitutes: Annets (GK) Yamashita (GK), Davies, Greenwood (60’), Hemp (60’), Layzell, Oyama, Thomas, Wienrother (87’),
Scorer: Park (70’)
Referee: Ryan Atkin
Attendance: TBC
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“]] Leicester City 0-1 Manchester City By Gethin Thurlow (27/5/2025) Above: Lauren Hemp proved to be the difference between the sides. Photo: Manchester City. Lauren Hemp returned from injury ruthlessl… Read More
