Nick Cushing, who is under pressure at Manchester City, was full of praise for his team’s spirit following their fightback from two goals down against Birmingham but said they must cut out “silly mistakes” if they want to challenge for silverware.
“You can’t win football matches when you gift goals away,” he said. “Although we’ve come back today, we need to cut out the mistakes because we’re giving ourselves a harder task.”
Cushing was referring to a comedic own goal inside 10 minutes when Abbie McManus, inside her opponents’ half and being chased down, hoofed the ball back towards Ellie Roebuck. It bounced in front of the goalkeeper, flew over her head and rolled over the line.
“I’ve never questioned the spirit of the team,” Cushing said. “Against Bristol when we were two goals down from two mistakes the spirit of the team was there, we drew the game and we were disappointed we didn’t win it.
“Against Atlético Madrid I thought we were the better team in the second half, so I didn’t question the spirit there, just the application in the first half.
“And then today, once we had the performance, the ball and control of the game we would create opportunities and it was a good win in the end.”
Three games into the season, Cushing’s future was already being questioned. After surprisingly finishing last season empty-handed and having been knocked out of the Champions League last week, outclassed by Atlético, the Spanish champions, his team needed a win to settle nerves. Except Damson Park is not an easy place to visit.
Birmingham City had a 100% record in the league going into this match, with three goals and three wins, and two of those achieved without last season’s WSL top-scorer, Ellen White, who is out with a back injury. Last season in this fixture White scored twice to secure a 2-0 home win and hand Manchester City their first defeat of the season, ending a 23-game unbeaten run.
With Caroline Weir and Tessa Wullaert back in the starting lineup, Cushing was looking for some much-needed creativity in possession. Their experience showed instantly but Roebuck’s calamitous error quickly made any hopes the manager may have had of moving to within a point of their opponents, and announcing their arrival as league competitors, significantly harder to achieve.
It was a disastrous start for Cushing’s side, who have looked disorganised and indecisive at the back so far this season.
City were still in the game, but Birmingham’s solid defence left clear-cut chances hard to come by.
Birmingham then doubled their lead early in the second half. Lucy Staniforth’s whipped-in corner looped into the net courtesy of a Meaghan Sargeant header.
Despite their two-goal cushion, their manager, Marc Skinner, was unhappy with their lack of control. “I’m disappointed in the result obviously, but the performance more,” Skinner said.
“We need to be more mature in controlling the game once you’re up in it and that’s something we’ll definitely work on.”
With Manchester City’s molehill now a mountain they strangely started to thrive. Their edge in midfield began to show as Birmingham legs tired and with Weir their brightest outlet, it was no accident that it was her strike, taking a hefty deflection to evade Ann-Katrin Berger, that reduced the deficit.
Ten minutes later and the scores were level, Weir again the orchestrator, weaving past three to slip a pass to Nikita Parris to slot home.
It was then Wullaert’s turn to leave Manchester City fans questioning the pair’s omission from the starting lineup on Wednesday night – the Belgian’s shot hitting Kerys Harrop and flying in for a deserved winner, which moved City to within a point of the top and gave their manager some much-needed breathing room.
Birmingham, meanwhile, remain second in the table and have shown they are now ready to challenge for the title: “I want to win things, that’s my nature. I’m competitive when I’m in the car,” Skinner said. “We will look on this and it will hurt but it will make us stronger.”
Kirby and Cuthbert seal Chelsea’s first win of season
A flicked volley from Fran Kirby and goal on the counter from Erin Cuthbert gave Chelsea their first win of the season – after three goalless draws – against Hope Powell’s Brighton. Chelsea move to within three points of the top in fifth, while Reading got over their defeat to Birmingham last week, and moved up to fourth, with a 1-0 win against Liverpool – a wonderful swooping ball over the top met by Brook Chaplen on the edge of the box to half-volley home. Rosie Kmita scored the winner for West Ham, after Ellie Mason had cancelled out Leanne Kiernan’s strike, against Yeovil at Rush Green.
