Pep Guardiola is not the only all-conquering coach on the Etihad Stadium campus. Under Nick Cushing’s charge, Manchester City’s female side are within touching distance of winning the Women’s Super League title for the first time.
Cushing’s players need a point against Chelsea, the reigning champions, at City’s Academy Stadium on Sunday to secure first place. It will not be easy – Emma Hayes’s side are no pushovers – but, so far this season, City are unbeaten in 14 league games, winning 12 and conceding three goals along the way. Even Guardiola would cherish a similar record.
Seven points clear of second-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand on the leaders and are eight points ahead of third-place Arsenal, with two league fixtures remaining, City have undoubtedly benefited from sharing a magnificently appointed club campus built with Emirati wealth alongside their Premier League pace-setting counterparts.
“We’ve got unbelievable facilities and an exceptional set of fans that push us over the line when needed,” says Cushing, who also benefits from having Steph Houghton, the England captain, at the heart of a defence that will face Birmingham City Ladies in the Continental Tyres Cup final next Sunday .
By then Houghton hopes to be a WSL champion. “It would mean everything to win our first Super League trophy but we have to actually go out and do it,” she says. “Games don’t come much bigger than playing the title holders with the chance to win the trophy yourselves.”
Not that City will be remotely content to settle for the draw they need. “The mentality at this club is always to win,” says Houghton before issuing a reminder of the City Women’s mantra. “At the start of the season, we set out to claim three points from every game and to be competitive, playing the football we love to play. “We’re a club with ambition. We’ve brought in a lot of talent, but we’ve also grown our own and over the last three years it’s been so pleasing to see how we’ve progressed. Any success we have will be deserved. We’re the model everyone else wants to follow.”
Chelsea would prefer to eclipse their closest rivals and, until recently, have made a decent job of keeping them in check. They have met City nine times in the past three seasons, each team recording four wins and the remaining game was a draw.
With Mark Sampson, the England coach, compiling the bulk of his side from City and Chelsea, their domestic dominance bodes well for the Lionesses’ chances at next summer’s European Championship in the Netherlands. Even so, there are concerns that the WSL is in peril of becoming a little predictable, not to mention a bit top heavy.
Houghton, though, cannot look past on Sunday. “It’s going to be difficult – we know that – but we’ll respect Chelsea and I’m sure they’ll respect us too,” she says. “Whenever we play them, it’s always a tough fixture – it’s very competitive and aggressive. We’ll both want to stamp our authority on the game as soon as we possibly can and control it for large periods. It’s going to be really exciting.”
