Leicester City have continued their assault on the FA Women’s Championship title with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Prenton Park this afternoon.
A hard-fought encounter on Merseyside saw Liverpool reduced to 10 players at the start of the second half with Melissa Lawley being sent-off 20 seconds after coming on as a substitute and the visitors took advantage with Charlie Devlin slamming home the winner nine minutes from time.
Both sides had early chances to score with Missy Bo Kearns testing visiting keeper Kirstie Levell and Natasha Flint’s effort being blocked by Liverpool’s Rachael Laws at the other end.
Liverpool took the lead in the 10th minute when Amalie Thestrup’s low cross from the left was swept home by Kearns before the same player tested Levell from distance as she immediately went looking for her second goal.
A half of few quality goalscoring chances saw Rinsola Babajide strike an effort at Levell from distance before Leicester City were awarded a penalty kick just before the break when Niamh Fahey clipped Natasha Flint in the box. Flint stepped up to take the spot kick herself and successfully converted, sending Liverpool keeper Laws the wrong way.
Liverpool brought on Lawley at the break but her game lasted just 20 seconds with the player earning herself a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Devlin. That dismissal didn’t really get to the hosts who continued to play their part throughout the remainder of the match.
The second half followed the same pattern of the first in terms of the creation of few chances. Paige Bailey-Gayle struck an effort wide across goal just after the hour before Devlin curled a shot from 20 yards onto the roof of the Liverpool net.
Flint then sliced a shot wide when in a great position to score before Devlin netted the winner with nine minutes of the game remaining, slamming the ball home after it had fortunately fallen into her path.
The result sees Leicester City remain three points clear of Durham at the top of the FA Women’s Championship table while Liverpool are now 11 points adrift and their season is surely over.