Crystal Palace suffer 3-0 WSL loss to Manchester City at Selhurst Park

BY GINA BAGNULO

Crystal Palace suffered a 3-0 loss against Manchester City at Selhurst Park on Sunday in the Women’s Super League.

The Eagles held their own for much of the first half with Annabelle Blanchard and Katie Stengel leading the way in attack.

But in the 40th minute a long shot from City’s Jess Park found its way into the Palace net, going over Shae Yanez.

Early into the second half, Dutch international Jill Roord made it 2-0.

Khadija Shaw is one of the leading goal scorers in the WSL and capitalised on a cross from Jess Park to head the ball into the net.

Stengel hit the post on the hour mark for Palace. While it was another home defeat, the game was certainly an improvement from the last fixture the Eagles played at Selhurst Park against Chelsea when they were hammered 7-0.

“As a whole I suppose there are many things I can talk about in that aspect because the transition is huge,” Palace manager Laura Kaminski said, on facing top-quality sides since being promoted to the WSL.

“You need to have a lot of attributes and different skillsets as a group tactically to be able to approach such different fixtures. People don’t understand what that looks like behind closed doors, in terms of the detail that goes into that throughout the week and how difficult it is to flip between different styles week after week.

“The group are showcasing that that is a challenge but they are rising to it week after week. We need to keep the gap getting smaller and smaller and getting us points on the board before the October break, which suggests the transition is going well.

“I don’t look at the table, it’s distracting for me. And I certainly don’t put points on games because anything can happen and anything can happen for this team, a team that has great grit and resilience. There’s no reason why they can’t beat a top side. It might take longer, but it’ll be worth the wait.”

Chloe Arthur made her Crystal Palace WSL debut as she came off the bench in the second half in place of My Cato. Ireland-international Izzy Atkinson, who came on for Blanchard in the second half, filled the void her team-mate left behind with several speedy runs and a shot on goal.

Kaminski said: “The subs that came on impacted the game fantastically, really turned the game over in terms of getting us some pressure higher up the pitch on their backline which was positive to see.

“It’s positive to see subs are making that impact and that’s not to say the starting 11 were lackadaisical in any way, shape or form. When you’ve been defending for 50-60 minutes of the game against the side that are currently top of the table, it’s very hard on the legs so to keep those bursts of running going is challenging.

“We nullified a lot of their threats. We marked there in the box, we protected the box for longer periods of time, defending better in wide areas, the shape we made an adjustment to in game shows the players tactically can respond to information.

“And if you talk about players responding, they were very disappointed with our result against Chelsea. I thought it was harsh towards the latter stage of the game but they take accountability for the performance as well and it’s positive for me to see the mindset that they approach this game. For me, to be able to not concede like we did when we are so newborn to this league is a fantastic positive for us, our journey looks different.

“This side is capable of competing, drawing and beating a good side but it will come later,  it won’t come six games into the WSL. It might have to wait a bit longer for that, but it’s important that we close the gap and we shorten the margin and we’ve demonstrated today that we’ve done that and we’re on course.”

Crystal Palace returns to Sutton to face Everton this weekend, a team that has not been faring well in the league at 11th place. The Eagles have a strong shot at securing a first home victory in the WSL.