Man City ratings vs London City Lionesses: Bunny Shaw to the rescue as runaway Women's Super League leaders go NINE points clear of Chelsea

Khadija Shaw's late goal ensured Manchester City went nine points clear at the top of the Women's Super League with a battling 2-1 win at London City Lionesses. Kerolin gave the visitors an early lead but the hosts levelled after the hour mark in deserved fashion from Freya Godfrey's thunderbolt. But Shaw ensured the league leaders came away with all three points to inch them closer to their first WSL title since 2016.

After Chelsea ceded more ground in the WSL title race on Saturday, City seemed determined to press home their advantage and nearly went ahead in the eighth minute through Bunny Shaw, only for the striker to miss a golden chance from six yards out. Kerolin laid the ball on a plate for the Jamaican but three minutes later, she took matters into her own hands when she slotted past Elene Lete from Vivianne Miedema's slide-rule pass. Shaw then stung the hands of Lete with a low strike towards the bottom corner but for much of the rest of the contest, it was all London City.

Isobel Goodwin saw her strike pushed onto the post by keeper Ayaka Yamashita and then her header bounced off the crossbar from close-range. Former City star Kosovare Asllani then skied a gilt-edged opportunity near the penalty spot after a neat cutback from team-mate Lucia Corrales. They finally got a deserved equaliser in the 69th minute through Godfrey, who lashed in a shot past Yamashita from just inside the box.

Just when it looked like City would drop points, Shaw was on hand to stab home following a goalmouth scramble four minutes from time to break the home side's hearts. They are now nine points ahead of Chelsea and 10 clear of third-placed Arsenal.

GOAL rates Manchester City's players from Copperjax Community Stadium...

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Goalkeeper & Defence
Ayaka Yamashita (7/10):
Made some good stops, especially from Goodwin, and was calm on the ball. But maybe could have done more to keep out the home side's equaliser.
Kerstin Casparij (6/10):
The right-back had a solid if unspectacular outing but she was caught out of position on occasion.
Jade Rose (6/10):
While Knaak struggled with Goodwin, Rose did a much better job at keeping her in check with her physicality.
Rebecca Knaak (4/10):
Started with a very clumsy foul on the lively Goodwin, was repeatedly caught out when running back to goal from London City's attacks, and was unconvincing throughout.
Alex Greenwood (5/10):
Perhaps gave Godfrey a bit too much space to wind up and thump home to make it 1-1.

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Midfield
Laura Blindkilde (5/10):
Was guilty of losing the ball in the lead up to the equaliser but felt Asllani handled the ball. Didn't stamp her authority on the game enough.
Yui Hasegawa (7/10):
Popped up with some important interceptions when her team were on the back foot and showed her quality when needed.
Vivianne Miedema (8/10):
The former Arsenal star conjured up a superb assist for City's first goal and played a huge part in their second as well.
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Attack
Kerolin (9/10):
Was City's best player by far. Her pace and power caused the home side all sorts of problems, and she took her goal really well.
Khadija Shaw (8/10):
Bagged her 75th WSL goal with a priceless winner for her side. Held the ball up well, too.
Lauren Hemp (6/10):
Had a quiet game by her standards. The England international was nullified well.

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Subs & Manager
Sam Coffey (7/10):
The January signing came off the bench to make her debut and had an encouraging outing.
Iman Beney (N/A):
Too little time to make an impact.
Andree Jeglertz (7/10):
His team won ugly and for large periods, they were second-best. But that is the sign of a champion, winning when you have your back against the wall and still coming out on top.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Midfield

Attack

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