Gareth Taylor praised the professional performance of his Manchester City team as two goals each from Ellen White and Sam Mewis helped them to a 5-0 victory over Fiorentina in the Champions League. The 8-0 aggregate win ensured City’s place in the quarter-finals, alongside Chelsea.
“It was very professional. We played with humility and maximum respect to Fiorentina,” said Taylor. “I thought the way we challenged balls, were professional and the way we managed the game from the first to the last minute was excellent.”
If there was any expectation that Fiorentina might be a danger on their home turf it was quickly squashed when City doubled their 3-0 advantage from the first leg within 32 minutes, before Mewis came on at half-time and added a fourth and fifth. Twice Lauren Hemp provided for White from the right and those two goals sandwiched a penalty scored by Caroline Weir.
The penalty award was harsh, with Esme Morgan’s cross having ricocheted mostly off the face of the defender Martina Zanoli rather than her arm, but it was irrelevant in the broader scheme of things with City already four up on aggregate.
In reaching the last 16 Fiorentina had gone one step further than last year, when they were knocked out by Arsenal in the previous round by an aggregate score of 6-0. However, with their league form having crumbled – they sit fifth in Serie A, 22 points behind the leaders, Juventus – any chance of an improvement in form against English opposition was slim.
This was a ruthlessly clinical performance from City against a team that, at times, looked to be standing still as the ball was played around them. The visitors were without their captain, Steph Houghton, and Lucy Bronze, who were rested to recover from minor injuries. As they cruised into the quarter-finals, Taylor could also shuffle things further – at half-time Weir and Hemp were taken off, and the fresh legs of Chloe Kelly and Mewis came on.
Keira Walsh, influential in defensive midfield, also made way for Laura Coombs, while White was taken off for the young academy graduate Millie Davies to make her Champions League debut, having featured for 43 minutes across four substitute appearances in the Women’s Super League.
“What I love about this team is we make changes, we make tactical subs and it doesn’t change the performance of the team,” said Taylor.
Weir added: “We’re delighted. The team was rotated, it shows the depth in our squad and it gives us confidence going into next week.”
The win extended City’s unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions and took their goal tally to 38 in 10 games. The draw for the quarter-finals takes place at 11am on Friday. “All the top teams are in there so I wouldn’t say there is one that stands out,” said the Scotland winger Weir. “We know whoever it is will be tough.
“Both [English] teams look strong at the moment so it looks like the English teams are in a good place and that’s great for the game in England as a whole. If we can avoid each other, maybe that would be good so we can see English teams go far.”
