‘It’s a really important win’ – Taylor on Manchester City’s victory over Aston Villa

Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that his side’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa was a really important result.

The Cityzens cannot afford to lose another Barclays Women’s Super League fixture this season but they found themselves 1-0 down to Aston Villa in the early stages of this afternoon’s clash at The Joie Stadium. Manchester City recovered and Lauren Hemp came to their rescue with a second half brace.

When speaking in the post-match press conference, Taylor said that he was pleased with his side’s performance and that the win was huge.

“I thought we were great, I really thought we were good,” Taylor said.

“I was really positive at half-time even though we were a goal down because we did a lot of good things. The only time that we probably took our foot off the accelerator was when Villa scored.

“We knew that was down to us and we spoke about the importance of being on the front foot in the second half. I didn’t actually feel like we started the second half that great but the goal was real quality and once we got that, you could just see the confidence go through the team.

“I thought we dominated the game. Even in the second half, they had a couple of half-chances but Khiara (Keating) was very comfortable and Alex (Greenwood) defended well on a lot of occasions. Although the scoreline was close, we probably could’ve opened up a bit more but it’s a really important win for us. I’m pleased with the effort and the quality from the players.”

Taylor was pleased with forward Hemp’s contribution, although he continues to demand more from his attacking unit.

He said “Lauren works so hard for the team both in and out of possession. We set high standards and on reflection, the front-three could probably give us more in terms of that final bit of quality. They need to be supported by Jill [Roord] and Laura [Coombs] as well. The decision-making will always be key.

“I thought the first goal was great; it was a great ball from Chloe [Kelly] and you know when Lauren is on the end of it, she’s very good in the air. We had another one after the second goal which was a really good save from [Daphne] Van Domselaar.

“There were a lot of really good things today. We’ve ended the year in this stadium with a positive win and put points on the board which is really important.”

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of the WSL Full-Time brand which I launched in 2018.

I am an accredited journalist with the FWA, SJA and AIPS. I have reported from various levels of men’s and women’s elite football since 2016.

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