Here is Suzy Wrack’s match report:
And with that, goodbye. Thanks for reading, everyone.
If you haven’t yet seen the own-goal...
Scenes in the WSL this afternoon! 👀😱
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 30, 2018
What about this for an own goal?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/iF79AKc9ZR
We’ll have Suzanne Wrack’s match report up shortly...
What to make of that in the context of Man City’s season, though? Do they take it as a positive that they’ve come from 2-0 behind twice now to claim points, or is it a negative they were 2-0 down in the first place? Nick Cushing said before the game that they needed to get on the front foot from the start, but they most certainly didn’t do that and required a solid effort to come back. Still, three points is three points.
Cracking game, that. Manchester City looked sluggish in the first-half but after their first goal were very solid and determined. That abysmal own-goal knocked them back for a while, but as the game progressed they got stronger and stronger. Birmingham, on the other hand, were too passive even before they went 2-0 up, so in some respects they had it coming. Still, after that second goal few would have predicted the final score.
Full-time: Birmingham 2-3 Manchester City
Peeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 2: The game just petering out a little now...
90 mins + 1: Ladd tries to weave her way through the Man City defence, moving from the middle out wide. She hits a sort of cross-shot thing that briefly has Roebuck worried, but in the end she watches it go out for a goal-kick.
90 mins: Three minutes of added time: can Birmingham salvage something?
88 mins: Out of basically nothing, Birmingham are nearly level. Staniforth has been their best attacking player, and she drives into the box from the right and batters a shot towards goal. Roebuck saves, and there might have been some post involved too.
87 mins: Berger almost makes a horrendous balls of a pass out, dragging a clearance straight to Weir. Mercifully for her, it was far enough away from the midfielder that she couldn’t do anything of note with it.
85 mins: Birmingham really haven’t been able to respond since the first Man City goal. The visitors are in entire control, and Weir feels emboldened to try an outrageous chip from well outside the box, but realistically it was never going to really work. Berger saves with ease.
82 mins: Change for Birmingham: Shania Hayles is on, Marissa Ewers is off.
80 mins: Man City have the ball in the net, but Emslie was about a light year offside. Still, it came from a Stanway cross who was played in by an absolutely delicious Walsh pass from deep. Almost deserved a goal on its own.
79 mins: Minor note: Birmingham manager Marc Skinner is wearing a Stone Island coat. Just because it works for Pep Guardiola Marc, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you...
77 mins: Inches away from a fourth for Man City! Weir lines up a free-kick just to the right of centre, she curls it over the wall, beats Berger but it bangs against the inside of the post and out again!
75 mins: Stanway opens out her body on the left side of the area and tries to curl a shot into the far corner, but hits it straight at Berger. Man City want more here.
73 mins: Another large dollop of fortune, but they certainly have deserved the goals on the balance of play. Wullaert drives towards the edge of the box on the right, she shoots and the ball loops up off the behind of Harrop, and leaves Berger with no chance.
GOAL! Birmingham City 2-3 Manchester City (Wullaert 73)
Another deflection!
71 mins: Man City on the front foot now: Emslie wriggles free of some trouble in the box and cuts back to Walsh, but her shot is weak and blocked. The camera cuts to a man wearing a sky blue bucket hat in the crowd. Textbook.
67 mins: Subs for both teams: that’s Parris’s last action, as she’s withdrawn in favour of Claire Emslie, while for Blues Lucy Quinn replaces Mayling.
65 mins: City are level! Weir gets the ball just outside the box and is presented with a crowded area in front of her. But she shows some sensational close control to skip around three defenders, before squaring to Parris who has a simple task of sliding the ball into the bottom corner.
GOAL! Birmingham City 2-2 Manchester City (Parris 65)
It’s Nikita Parris’s goal but Weir did all the work.
63 mins: Wullaert tries a shot from way Downtown that we’ll file under ‘ambitious’. It scuttles along the floor and Berger saves easily.
60 mins: Scratch that controversy: Roebuck pretty skilfully managed to keep her arms out of the way, and in fact stopped the ball with her chest.
59 mins: A moment of controversy, perhaps: Wellings is brilliantly put through on goal, but Roebuck charges out of goal - outside of her area - to stop her. At first look she appeared to use her hands to do so, but the protests weren’t especially enthusiastic.
58 mins: This is an extremely generous interpretation of the goal...
54. GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!! @itscarolineweir gets one back for us! The Scot drills a powerful shot at goal and even though Berger manages to get her fingertips to it, it still goes in! YESSSSS!
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) September 30, 2018
🔵 2-1 💙 #mancity pic.twitter.com/QmVHKmgubD
57 mins: Man City certainly have a bit more purpose to them now: a corner from the left is skimmed over nicely, and Berger has to palm it away from a few players waiting eagerly to head in the equaliser.
54 mins: Man City came back from 2-0 down last weekend and might be doing it again. The ball breaks out to Caroline Weir around the penalty spot, she shoots, it’s charged down by Ewers but it loops up in the air and although Berger gets a hand to it, she can’t stop it going in. Game on!
GOAL! Birmingham City 2-1 Manchester City (Weir 54)
Big deflection! But Man City are back in it!
53 mins: Good chance for Man City, but Stanway wastes it: she cuts in from the right, reaches the byline with a couple of options for a cut-back, but instead she tries either a shot from an absurd angle or low cross that is easily cleared.
52 mins: Man City getting frustrated now? Ladd smartly wheels around on the halfway line, but Walsh sweeps her ankles away with a needless foul. She’s booked for it.
49 mins: Staniforth puts a corner over from the left, and Meaghan Sargeant gets up for the header at the back stick, then loops a perfectly-judged effort into the far corner, via a pleasing kiss of the post. Big problems for Man City now, particularly given their lack of options on the bench.
GOAL! Birmingham 2-0 Man City (Sargeant 49)
And this time, entirely intentional!
46 mins: Peeeeeeeeeep - we’re away again.
Change for Birmingham at half-time: Charlie Wellings is coming on, replacing Follis - could be an injury-enforced one, as Follis was on the rough end of a kicking a few times.
The strains of ‘Feel It’ ring out again, which only means one thing: the second-half is about to get underway.
Slightly odd half, that. Neither side have been especially good, separated only by that moment of high farce early on, Abbie McManus hoofing a pass from the opposition half back to her own keeper, who was beaten by the bounce. Actually, that might be a bit generous: for reasons best known to herself, Roebuck - comfortably in her area - tried to stop with her head rather than using her hands.
Anyway, Man City have struggled to create anything of real note, but Birmingham have dropped back and seemed happy with their 1-0 lead. That could be dangerous if they continue the same approach after the break.
Half-time: Birmingham City 1-0 Manchester City
Peeeeeeeeep! With the last kick of the half, Parris is set free behind the Birmingham defence after a mistake by Berger, but the keeper redeems herself by saving the shot.
45 mins + 2: Birmingham - who have looked troublingly passive for the last 20 minutes or so - give the ball away in midfield and are fortunate that Weir’s cross is poor, allowing Berger to nab it again.
45 mins: Stanway pops up on the right and tries to put a low cross into the ol’ corridor of uncertainty, but Berger - seemingly recovered from that bash to the ribs - comes out to claim easily. Three minutes of stoppage time.
44 mins: Man City still struggling to create anything. Wullaert has looked the most likely to spark anything creatively, and again she tries a big ball from the right. It’s cleared quite easily, but at least she’s trying something.
41 mins: Man City go close, close, close! That corner comes over from the right, Beattie gets up and meets the header, from which point the ball disappears into the thicket of legs in the six-yard box. It pops out after a brief scramble, and while a few players claim it had gone over the line, their appeals are turned down. The replay suggests that Staniforth just - just - managed to clear it off the line.
40 mins: Lordy, another injury: Jill Scott goes down this time, her ankle having taken a battering from - I think - the studs of Ewers. She gets back up and makes a decent run down the right, winning a corner, but she doesn’t look comfortable.
39 mins: This does not look like a good laugh at all...
A worrying sight for @ManCityWomen and @England.@lilkeets looks to be in a lot of pain after a heavy fall on her shoulder. City only have two outfield players on the bench though so she’s back on the pitch. pic.twitter.com/z0ih8oaCzn
— Jo Currie (@JoCurrie) September 30, 2018
36 mins: Great chance for Parris: terrific ball into the box by Walsh, which Parris takes down on her chest but the touch is a little heavy. Ann-Katrin Berger comes out to take both ball and player (fairly), but while Parris falls on that shoulder again, it’s Berger that needs treatment for what looks like a whack in the ribs. Like City they’ll be reluctant to make the sub, mind: Birmingham don’t have a keeper on the bench.
34 mins: Follis, refreshed by that treatment, spins nicely on the edge of the box but hits her shot straight at Roebuck.
33 mins: Parris is still receiving treatment, and her shoulder is being quite heftily taped up. She looks in pain, but with only two outfield subs available to Cushing, he won’t be keen to make the substitution.
31 mins: Mannion gets a talking to after a hefty challenge from behind on Weir. Meanwhile, Parris goes up for a header and seems to hurt her shoulder on landing, and now Follis needs some treatment from the Birmingham physio. Everyone takes the opportunity to have a drink.
29 mins: Parris tries to drive through the middle but goes down under challenge from Kerys Harrop on the edge of the box - she turns and looks expectantly at the referee, but no dice. Man City are doing OK in terms of territory, but still aren’t producing much of note.
27 mins: Wullaert tries to thread a ball through the middle looking for the run of Parris, but just as the striker looks like she’s breaking free Aoife Mannion produces a superb sliding challenge. Clean as a whistle.
26 mins: Cushing said that his team would attack early, but they just can’t get going at the moment. Georgia Stanway runs down the left, but she’s just offside.
24 mins: Birmingham go close again: Houghton half-clears a cross from the left, it falls to Hayley Ladd on the edge of the box who chests it down and is given the time to hit a half-volley, but it flies just wide of the post.
23 mins: A few quiet minutes, but Birmingham have a free-kick on the right that Staniforth pings into the box. It’s cleared, and shortly afterwards Houghton puts in a thumping challenge on Arthur. Proper Football.
19 mins: Staniforth has a big chance for Birmingham, but the ball bobbles just as she draws back her right boot and it loops up in the air, safely into the arms of Roebuck.
18 mins: Hell’s teeth! McManus is inches away from ANOTHER sensational own-goal. This time she attempts to volley a cross from the left clear, but slices it towards the bottom corner of her own net, but this time Roebuck saves. She flings herself to the left and palms the ball away. Bacon, saved.
16 mins: McManus passes back to Roebuck again, but this one is safely on the ground so calamity is avoided. This time.
14 mins: Man City try to get themselves back into the game, and Parris wins a corner on the left. That’s swung into the box and Houghton meets it, but her header is blocked and Birmingham eventually get it clear.
12 mins: Karen Bardsley, sitting on the bench, might be guiltily smirking at that one.
11 mins: The solemn tweets of clubs announcing one of their own has effed up are undeniably hilarious...
8. Goal to Birmingham.
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) September 30, 2018
Own goal as McManus opts to pass back to Roebuck from 40 yards out, but the bounce beats our goalkeeper and it trickles into the net.
🔵 1-0 💙 #ManCity
8 mins: Sweet mercy. Abbie McManus had the ball on the halfway line and, faced with minimal passing options she decides - exceedingly unwisely, as it turns out - to ping a long pass back to her own keeper. However Roebuck flamboyantly misjudges the bounce, and it hops over her and dribbles into the net. Has anyone got Danny Baker’s phone number?
GOAL! Birmingham City 1-0 Manchester City (McManus OG 8)
OH MY GOD! SLAPSTICK! CALAMITY! WHAT AN OGGER!
6 mins: Parris tries to spring the offside trap, but it remains resolutely unsprung. The flag goes up, but that looked exceedingly close, if not quite onside.
5 mins: First shot on target, but it was a scuffed one: the ball breaks to Follis on the edge of the box in a bit of space, she shoots early but it dribbles straight at Roebuck and the save is made easily. She probably had the time and space to take another touch or two there.
2 mins: Nikita Parris tries to make some progress down the left side of the box, but just runs it out of play.
1 min: We’re away. Man City on the attack from the off, as Cushing said they would be.
Poor form to criticise other journalists of course, but the pre-match interviewer for the BBC didn’t seem to ask Cushing if there was a reason for Karen Bardsley being left out in favour of Ellie Roebuck, or why there are only three subs. ‘Injuries’ is probably the answer, but would have been nice to get confirmation.
Updated
As the teams come out, ‘Feel It’ by The Tamperer feat. Maya plays over the PA. What is she gonna look like with a chimney on her?
Nick Cushing speaks! “Naturally, whenever you lose a game you want to come back in the next one. We never really change the way we play - we’ll try to dominate the ball, get into offensive positions, and we’ll try to take the three points. We must have played them 150 times in the last three seasons - we’ve played them a lot, and we just need to get ourselves in the game early. In some games we’ve started too slowly, and the momentum is with the opposition then.”
Blues manager Marc Skinner speaks! “We’re confident in everything we put our feet to. What I’d say about Man City is they’ve faced hardship before, so I’d expect them to be quite resilient and come at us again. Would we like to take advantage [of them losing in the Champions League]? We’d hope so. We’ll look at every small bit we can.”
Pre-match reading that isn’t really to do with this match, but Eni Aluko’s column is always worth your time. Here she is on the baffling selection of Marta as the best player in the world and how FIFA need to do more to promote the women’s game.
You’ll get more sense out of Suzy Wrack, who’s at the game for us today, than me, so follow her...
Man City were knocked out of the @UWCL by Atletico Madrid this week and looked well off the pace. Two draws (though their point away at Chelsea not the worst) and one win they’ve not really clicked yet. If they get it right today it will be a big statement.
— Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) September 30, 2018
A side note to this is Manchester City captain Steph Houghton - she’s married to Stephen Darby, the former Bolton right-back who was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease, but according to Cushing she’s been dealing with it all as well as can be expected.
Steph is Steph. She is the England and Manchester City captain for a reason. She is a top leader and a top professional. Football is very important to her and she [has] come in and she trained like she always has done and applied herself the way she always has done as our captain.
Her family is also very important to her and Manchester City, and all of us here will support Steph and Stephen all the way through their journey because that’s what we are, we are a family here.
Updated
Interesting team news there. Nick Cushing said after the Champions League defeat that players like Tessa Wullaert and Caroline Weir might get their chances, and so it has come to pass. Perhaps more eye-catching is that he’s seemingly only named three subs, suggesting there are some wounded souls at City. More on that if/when we get it.
Team news
Birmingham City
Berger, Williams, Harrop, Mannion, Sargeant, Ladd, Ewers, Staniforth, Arthur, Mayling, Follis. Subs: Hayles, Scott, Scofield, Wellings, Quinn.
Manchester City
Roebuck, McManus, Beattie, Houghton (c), Bonner, Walsh, Scott, Weir, Wullaert, Stanway, Parris. Subs: Bardsley, Leth Jans, Emslie
Premable.
What to make of Manchester City’s start to the season? The opening day draw with Chelsea was grand, as was the 4-0 hosing of Everton the other week. But the draw with a Bristol City side they beat handily in the Continental Cup and then the elimination from the Champions League this week were not ideal: the defeat to Atletico Madrid was particularly irksome for City, who had high hopes following a pair of semi-final appearances. Perhaps with five new signings to bed in, this sort of thing is to be expected, and these are early days.
No such ambiguity for Birmingham though, who have been the absolute model of efficiency: three league games, three wins, all 1-0s, only kept off top spot by Arsenal who have scored about a billion goals so far. In fact, the only blemish on their season came against today’s opponents, a 0-0 draw in the cup that they ultimately lost on penalties. “I think the way that we are going right now, we are happy to play anyone,” said midfielder Lucy Staniforth. And rightly so.
One kick in the pants for them is that Ellen White, last season’s top scorer, is out with a back problem and it’s always slightly concerning when a team doesn’t specify a rough return date, which they haven’t in this case.
Stick around for this one. Should be a pearler.
Kick-off: 12.30 BST.
Updated
