City up and running but still searching for attacking efficiency
Manchester City came away with important 1-0 over Brighton but missed chances still haunt them.
Manchester City had one target on Sunday and that was to get their first three points of the season.
On paper, this game was an ideal opportunity to build one of their trademark winning runs, but City fans know just how tough it can be against Brighton.
City have a dominant head-to-head record against the Seagulls - nine wins in 11 games- but this fixture hasn’t always been plain sailing for City.
Last November’s 1-0 defeat to Brighton showed how complacency can get the better of City. It was a game that saw the Sky Blues tally up 35 shots, 13 on target, and five big chances. There were flashes of some of that same frustration at the Joie Stadium on Sunday.
Just like Arsenal last weekend, Brighton schemed to bait City’s press and, at times, carved good openings through their build-up. Spaces around 20-year-old full-back Naomi Layzell were being exploited by Brighton’s left-hand side, which featured former City player Poppy Pattinson.
This is a trademark of how new Brighton manager Dario Vidošić wants this team to play. There were signs of this new style coming together against City, even if Brighton’s bravery playing it out from the back tipped into naivety at times. The slick moves created early opportunities for Brighton that they didn’t take and the brave player-to-player marking out of possession was gradually worked out by City.
Eventually, City got a foothold in the game and applied more pressure. The openings started to arrive for but so did the missed chances.
Most of City’s attacks see centre-forward Shaw isolated against two or sometimes three players around her. Shaw will often drop deep to escape and create space for others to run into, but Brighton’s back three limited much of that.
But, on the 40th-minute mark, Shaw was briefly unattended and played through on goal by a through ball by Jess Park. A mix of combative defending and failure to find her feet saw the chance blazed over.
Five minutes later, Shaw would make the most of the rare first-half space she found herself in. A swift transition move started by Alex Greenwood just inside Brighton’s half to Lauren Hemp on the left unleashed an overlapping Kerstin Casparij, whose flat ball across the box was met by the deft touch of Shaw.
Brighton began to tire in the second half, as was expected from such an intense first 45 minutes, but City still couldn’t make the most of the gaps that began to open up.
City’s lack of attacking bite wasn’t helped by a quiet 90 minutes for Vivianne Miedema, who played such a key role in City’s draw 2-2 with Arsenal last weekend. The star signing struggled to get involved against Brighton with just 39 touches all game according to FotMob.
Aoba Fujino was again preferred to Chloe Kelly on the right side of the attacking front-three despite a big performance for the England star against Paris FC in Uefa Women’s Champions League qualifiers midweek. Both Fujino and Miedema are still trying to build chemistry with their teammates and there was an obvious lack of attacking flow in all City’s combined front five.
Shaw would exit in the 76th minute as a precaution after clash of heads with a Brighton defender. Her absence highlighted just how important she is for City. Her replacement Mary Fowler would have a golden chance to double City’s lead but her off-balanced shot sailed over the bar from a couple of yards out.
The return of Jill Roord, making her first appearance after suffering an ACL injury in January, was roared on to a standing ovation from the home crowd. Roord had eight goal involvements in just 11 WSL appearances last seeason, emphasising her top-class production when fit, and her creativity couldn’t come at a more important time for City. Especially as the UWCL group stage is just around the corner.
Roord, Park and Hemp would all have chances to extend City’s lead, but none were taken. City finished the game with an xG of 3.08 (Opta), higher than the 2.8 xG that saw them lose last season’s fixture.
On City’s rustiness in front of goal, Taylor told BBC Sport after the game: “[We] work on it training and hope it clicks in-game. In terms of opportunities today, we’ll probably not get many more to open up, and it came from our pressing: winning the ball back, but our final action let us down.”
City can be ruthless, as their 8-0 aggregate win over Paris FC showed. However, finding that edge consistently, just like title rivals Chelsea showed on Friday night in their 7-0 thrashing over Crystal Palace, can be and has been the difference.
Taylor will want to make sure its not goal difference that leaves them failing again this season.
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