Steph Houghton reached a feat that no other player has, as her side cruised to a 7-1 victory against Brighton and Hove Albion this afternoon.
The Manchester City captain became the first player to record 150 appearances in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and capped it off with two goals, including a stunning free-kick. When discussing reaching this impressive achievement during a post-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present, Houghton stated she was ‘massively proud’.
“Remembering the first game in the WSL, its come a long way and to represent two amazing clubs in Arsenal and City, its a real honour” said Houghton.
“It’s a special moment and it’s definitely up there.”
Ahead of today’s game, Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor issued a warning to his side saying that Brighton & Hove Albion were ‘a tough team to break down’ and with Houghton facing her former national team manager Hope Powell, she was under no illusion of the challenge they faced.
She added “We haven’t trained much together as a team. We’ve played 120 minutes and we’ve come here and put in that performance against a Brighton side that we knew were going to be organised and were going to be tough to beat.
“With a manager like Hope Powell, we knew that they were going to give it everything from the first minute to the last.
“From our perspective, to dominate the way we did and get three points, it was a great effort from the team.”
Continuing to analyse her side’s 7-1 victory at the American Express Elite Performance Centre, Houghton reiterated that there was more to see from Manchester City.
She added “The scary thing is that we’ve still got things we can improve on.”
That comment came after Houghton labelled the goal which her side conceded as ‘disappointing’.
In the 61st minute, Houghton scored her second goal of the afternoon with a stunning curling free-kick and the 32-year-old believes that her strike was one of her best.
“I practice them a lot, me and Alex Greenwood do a lot of free-kicks together and it was nice to actually see one finally go into the top corner” said Houghton.
“I believe in myself to get those in.”
Since being knocked out of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup by Chelsea in midweek, Houghton’s close friend and teammate Jill Scott returned to her former club Everton on loan. When asked by FAWSL Full-Time whether the changing room was quieter without larger than life character Scott, Houghton replied “It was a lot tidier I can tell you that.
“Jill is an unbelievable player, she’s still a Manchester City player and wants to get more game time at Everton and as players and teammates, we’re going to miss her.
“She’s the joker of the team, she’s a person that pulls everyone together, ultimately we wish her the best of luck at Everton.”
Houghton could to add to her record-breaking 150th Barclays FA Women Super League appearance next weekend with the player likely to captain the side against West Ham United at The Academy Stadium.
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