Everton were defeated 2-1 by Manchester City at Walton Hall Park this afternoon but manager Brian Sørensen believes that his side can still take confidence from their performance.
Julie Blakstad fired Manchester City into the lead but Everton composed themselves and equalised through Rikke Sevecke. Khadija Shaw put The Cityzens back in front soon after the half-time interval but the hosts remained in the game and were maybe a little unlucky not to have secured a share of the spoils.
Everton have never defeated a ‘top three’ side during the full-time era in the Barclays Women’s Super League but manager Sørensen believes that the gap is closing and that his side can take heart from their performance against Manchester City this afternoon.
Reflecting on the action, Sørensen said “I was happy with our performance overall, that’s the best we’ve performed against any of the top three teams that we have played. We matched them in large parts of the match.
“I was disappointed with the goals that they scored; we tried to play offside and step up early but she (Shaw) timed her run really well and the second one, we practiced that in the week when they come with that wing pressure not to play those balls blind.
“It is how it is, I still think that performance-wise we looked good in the large part so we should take confidence from that.
“The gap (in quality) has been really big but it is getting closer.”
Sørensen was asked what his side need to do to begin to get results against the top teams. He believes that Everton need to eliminate mistakes, although the club’s young players will become more streetwise against the best sides in time.
He said “We need to clear out those mistakes, some of the things that we worked on so that they don’t get goals and chances too easily.
“If they do really great (Manchester City), that is how it is because they are top players. If you look at the financial aspect between the two clubs, it is massive, they can pretty much recruit who they want whereas we have to find younger, unproven players and give them the platform to perform on.
“I am really happy with our squad, if you look at Gio and Aggie (Beever-Jones), they are not even 20 yet. In a year when they get those chances, I am pretty sure that they will take them. It is where we are and it is just about developing the belief, self-confidence and doing the right things. If we develop over the season, I think that on a given day, we can take points.”
Everton return to action next Saturday when they take on Sheffield United in the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup.
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