Early season pacesetters Manchester City maintained their 100% start to the WSL season with a 4-2 victory over Liverpool on Friday night.
The champions took an early lead through Lauren Hemp in the 15th minute but the reply from the visitors did not take long. Liverpool responded with two goals in nine minutes as Alice Bergström and Vivien Endemann put them into the lead. However, it didn’t last long as City made it 2-2 in half-time stoppage time through Khadija “Bunny” Shaw.
Liverpool started the second half strongly, pinning City back for long periods but City were able to wrestle back momentum and create multiple openings. The winning goal came from an unlikely source though. Miscommunication between ex-Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating and her centre-back Grace Fisk resulted in the latter putting it into her own net in the 90th minute. Hemp then took advantage of Liverpool’s desperation to get a leveller to score her second of the game on the counter attack. Hemp’s goal extinguished any hope of a late Liverpool equaliser and ensured City made it 14 consecutive wins at home in the WSL.
Here are the key talking points from the game.
1. Shaky defence
City’s defence has not started the season well. They are yet to keep a clean sheet having conceded four goals in the first three games. In the first half of their title-winning campaign they were able to stifle opponents and prevent them from having shots but that defensive solidity slowly wore off in the second half of last season. It is yet to cause them dropped points this campaign, thanks to the attacking firepower they possess, but it is an issue City have to fix to successfully defend their title.
Against Liverpool, City were their own worst enemies. They lost the ball in a dangerous area in the lead up to Bergström’s goal. And that was not an isolated incident. Birmingham City scored from a similar situation in City’s opening game and Aston Villa were able to carve out a few chances from City’s sloppy play in last week’s 4-1 win.
2. A taste of what the Champions League schedule will bring?
Another reason for City’s shaky defence was the teething issues between players who are still building relationships with each other. Summer signing Carlotta Wamser started at left back and on the other side it was Iman Beney’s first start of the season at right-back. Meanwhile, new arrival Beth Mead got her first start of the season in the No 10 position. Given City are heading to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, its not surprising that Jeglertz wanted to shuffle his pack, but the changes certainly caused City problems.
Up top, especially against a side as good in possession as Liverpool, the press had to be spot on. However, City’s rotation resulted in some players taking longer to realise when and where to press, which then opened up gaps for the visitors to exploit. Liverpool also exposed the lack of sharpness by winning second balls whenever they had City in their own half.
City were able to wrestle back control through substitutions. Kerstin Casparij came on for Beney, who was having a torrid time against Endemann. Sam Coffey added some steel in the midfield while Grace Clinton’s cross forced the own goal that won City the game. Arguably the biggest impact was Aoba Fujino, who came on for Mary Fowler and instantly transformed City’s press. As a result, City were able to get up the pitch and sustain attacks.
City’s busy schedule requires squad rotation and management, but the constant changes will mean that they have less control in games. Jeglertz’s bench could become a key factor in games where City are struggling.
3. Lauren Hemp’s brilliance
Hemp was one of City’s most consistent performers in 2025-26, but if anything could be levelled against her, it was her lack of goals. She only scored one goal in the WSL last season, alongside her six assists. Hemp has come into this season determined to rectify that. She has taken 14 shots in the first three games of this campaign, which is more than a third of her total of 36 last season.
It wasn’t just her goalscoring which was on display on Friday night, she created four chances and her dribbling and ball-carrying caused a lot of problems for Liverpool’s right-hand side. Her relationship with Wamser keeps getting better and it is the left-back who was the provider for Hemp’s first goal of the game.
4. Late winners
City have faced former boss Gareth Taylor’s Liverpool three times since the start of last season and all three encounters have been won by City after the 86th minute. Liverpool aren’t the only side to have experienced a late City surge, Jeglertz’s side also scored late winners against Arsenal and London City Lionesses in the WSL, and Chelsea in the FA Cup.
A major reason for City’s ability to score late is the attacking talent they have and their ability to score goals from various sources, be it counter-attacks, set-pieces or settled build-up play. Another factor is their resilience. “We will find a way to win”, has been the mantra of the Jeglertz era and it is hard to argue with the results.
In a game where they failed to gain control for large parts, City managed to ramp up the pressure towards the end and not just score a late winner but use the opponent’s desperation after conceding to hit on the break and put the game to bed.
5. Bunny Shaw scores goals
Liverpool are one of the few teams Shaw did not score against last season. One big reason for that is that their Scottish centre-back Jenna Clark is one of the few defenders who can match Shaw physically in the WSL. Shaw is not one to rely on her physicality alone though.
Against Liverpool, Shaw took nine shots and not one of those was with her head. Last season, 37% of Shaw’s shots came from headers. And across City’s first two games of this campaign, Shaw had delivered eight headed shots, scoring twice. Liverpool managed to prevent her from having her usual aerial dominance but she beat them with her clever movement and anticipation instead. Her goal in stoppage time of the first half is a scrappy striker’s goal as Keating saves Hemp’s initial shot but only pushes it into a dangerous area, and Shaw reacts quickly to tap the rebound home.
That wasn’t the only example of Bunny’s adaptability. There were several other instances where she used her clever movement to get shots away. According to FotMob, Bunny ended the game with 11 touches in the opposition box and individual expected goals of 2.97, which is more than what eight WSL teams have created in the first two games of the season.
