Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor has hailed the all-round contribution of Khadija Shaw in his side’s 8-1 victory at Bristol City this afternoon in the fifth round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
The Jamaican international scored four of The Cityzens’ eight goals as they safely qualified for the quarter-finals. Shaw has now scored 21 goals in 20 appearances for Manchester City in all competitions this season.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time after the match, Taylor hailed Shaw’s all-round contribution to the attack.
“It is stunning really that she is able to continue in this vein of form from the first game of the season to where we are now at the end of February,” Taylor said.
“It doesn’t cease to amaze me. She is more than goals; she set up a brilliant goal at the end for Jemima (Dahou) and some of the team goals that we scored were top class. She showed today the different type of finishes that she is capable of achieving.”
Taylor was pleased with his side’s performance, particularly in the first half as Manchester City quickly established a sizeable lead.
He said “You hope for a decent performance first half then you hope to score some goals and be clinical and we were.
“I thought the first half performance was really good, we scored some excellent goals; a great hit from Filippa (Angeldahl) and there were some well-worked team goals.
“We were disappointed to give away the goal and we’ve spoken about that, but there were a lot of positives today including getting Jemima on the pitch and for her to be able to get her first goal.”
Bristol City went into the game having won every match at The Robins High Performance Centre this season. Lauren Smith’s side looked to be a real banana skin for Manchester City ahead of the game but the visitors’ rapid start blew them away.
“The game doesn’t change no matter who you play; if you can score early, it makes a big difference,” Taylor said. “To score early gives everyone the confidence to go on.
“Bristol changed it around a bit second half, they came out and engaged a bit more and put us under a bit more pressure, made it more difficult for us. As a whole, we have to be really pleased to be in the next round.”
Manchester City will now await news of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-final draw. Ties are scheduled to be played on the weekend of 18/19 March 2023.