London City Lionesses have marched on at the top of the Barclays Women’s Championship table with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Hayes Lane this evening.
Karin Muya helped herself to a brace while Sarah Ewens, Jamie-Lee Napier and Lucy Shepherd were also on target as Melissa Phillips’ side roared to victory.
London City Lionesses were dominant for large spells of the contest and they took the game to the hosts from the very first whistle. Shanade Hopcroft saw two corner kick deliveries bounce off the crossbar before Muya brought a solid save out of Crystal Palace goalkeeper Natalia Negri.
The Pride quickly made their dominance count when Ewens volleyed the ball home after connecting with a cross from the right.
London City Lionesses soon had their second goal when they raced away upfield and a neat ball was played through to Napier. The Scot found herself through on goal and she scored at the second attempt after Negri had saved her initial effort. Crystal Palace felt hard done by with a foul seemingly having been committed by their opponents at the start of the move.
The Pride went into the break three goals to the good with Muya heading home from a Lois Heuchan cross.
With the result pretty much decided, the second half was a more even affair with fewer chances created. It took some time before a meaningful goalscoring opportunity was produced but when it did arrive, London City Lionesses had the ball in the net for a fourth time. Napier played a neat pass to Muya and she nudged the ball beyond Negri and into the corner of the Crystal Palace net.
The pair combined again soon after but Napier failed to hit the target when connecting with Muya’s low pass, it really should have been 5-0 at that point. Substitute Lucy Shepherd did eventually net a fifth goal for London City Lionesses late on to cap-off a perfect start to 2023 for the Dartford-based club.
This evening’s result leaves London City Lionesses top of the Barclays Women’s Championship table while Crystal Palace are now in seventh position.