Category: Liverpool

Manchester City’s hopes of winning a first Barclays Women’s Super League title since 2016 have been boosted after they defeated Liverpool 1-0 at The Joie Stadium this afternoon.Defender Rebecca Knaak netted the only goal of the game in second half injury time as The Cityzens took another step towards the title.Liverpool had the stronger start with Aurélie Csillag heading the ball narrowly over early on. Grace Fisk then got her right boot on the ball and beat home keeper Ayaka Yamashita, but it bounced off the post and Manchester City cleared the danger. Jenna Clark met an inswinging corner, but couldn’t keep the ball down and it flew over the net.Khadija Shaw had Manchester City’s best chance. Lauren Hemp sent a ball in to Shaw who fired a low shot in on goal, but it was too close to Jennifer Falk who made the save.Kerstin Casparij then raced down the right and whipped a cross to Shaw, who did enough to beat Clark, but her header was off target.Liverpool had another chance to dampen Manchester City’s title dreams when Mia Enderby slid the ball into the path of Csillag. She took the shot first time, but the ball ballooned over the bar.The Reds once again started the stronger side in the second half. Csillag got on the end of a long ball, but it was too wide to go for goal and the Manchester City defence were on hand to clear.Ceri Holland sent a shot flying just over the bar before Falk made the perfect save to deny Manchester City the opener. Shaw played the ball through to Kerolin, who just had Falk to beat, but the keeper did brilliantly to get to the shot and tip it over the bar.Beata Olsson saw a header float just wide before Manchester City finally got their long-awaited goal in second half injury time when Knaak got her head to the ball and sent it into the back of the net.This afternoon’s result sees Manchester City move to within a win of the Barclays Women’s Super League title while Liverpool are in 1oth place.

Rebecca Knaak’s stoppage-time goal moved Manchester City within one win of their first Women’s Super League title in a decade, as they edged out Liverpool 1-0 at Joie Stadium.

Andree Jeglertz’s team knew two victories from their final two games would see them crowned champions, but anything less would open the door for Arsenal, who still have four matches to play.

It looked as though they would be kept at bay by Liverpool goalkeeper Jennifer Falk, who made several outstanding saves, but in the first of six additional minutes, she let Knaak’s header squirm past her to spark jubilant celebrations among the City players.

With City making a tentative start, Liverpool were unfortunate not to take an early lead. Ayaka Yamashita tipped Denise O’Sullivan’s drive around her right-hand upright, and after the resulting corner was flicked behind for another set-piece, Grace Fisk’s side-footed effort bounced off the foot of the post.

City only had three shots throughout the first half, only one of which hit the target as Falk got down to thwart Khadija Shaw following good work from Lauren Hemp.

They stepped up the tempo at the start of the second half, but Falk did brilliantly to stand tall and deny Kerolin one-v-one, while Shaw steered another dangerous Hemp delivery the wrong side of the post.

Falk produced more heroics at the start of stoppage time, flinging herself towards her own crossbar to tip Shaw’s bullet header over, but from the resulting corner, the Swede got two hands to Knaak’s diving attempt and only succeeded in pushing it into the net.

City now know a win over West Ham on May 16 will wrap up the title, and the crown could be theirs before then, should Arsenal drop points even once. 

What a moment  pic.twitter.com/IihjFhlgEa
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 3, 2026

Data Debrief: City find a way

City’s victory was their 12th in as many home WSL matches dating back to last season, setting a new club record for consecutive victories on their own turf in the competition.

But they had to do things the hard way as their usually fluid attack underperformed. City only had 14 shots with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.13, while Liverpool had nine shots worth 1.4 xG.

Once again, City’s set-piece prowess shone through, as they scored their 13th goal from a corner this season – more than twice as many as any other WSL team. 

The Opta supercomputer rated their title chances at 92.5% coming into this weekend, and after this huge win, their hopes stand at 95.2%.