Manchester City Women recorded their fifth successive victory in all competitions tonight, defeating Durham - in the FA WSL Continental Cup.

The Citizens welcomed WSL 2 side Durham to the Academy Stadium hoping to build on their impressive return to action that has seen them win four games in a row since the Women's World Cup.

Durham, however, came into the match with back-to-back league wins under their belt, having defeated London Bees 4-1 on Sunday and Watford 3-1 the weekend before. They also put Sunderland to the test seven days ago in this very competition, coming within minutes of securing a point against the WSL 1 table toppers, only for the Lady Black Cats to net a late winner to take the game 2-1.

Team news

There were a number of significant changes to the City team that defeated Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday, with Lucy Bronze and Jill Scott the most notable absentees - presumably through injury with them out of the squad altogether.

With them missing, Emma Lipman and Abbie McManus came into the team, moving Steph Houghton into midfield. Jennifer Beattie was also missing, which contributed to Houghton's shift up the pitch too, and she was replaced by Krystle Johnston.

As for Durham, they also endured a significant change from the team that beat the Bees as Helen Anderson swapped with Anna Moorhouse in between the sticks, the latter starting today. The only other alteration saw Chloe Macek come in for Lauren Jordinson, as she did before the hour mark at the weekend.

Bright start by the hosts gives them an early lead

Though they began tentatively, City started the game on top, with Houghton suiting the defensive midfield role well as she dictated play and even had the first shot on goal - her top-corner bound effort tipped over well by Moorhouse with six minutes played.

This proved to be a catalyst for the hosts on the attack, with McManus heading the resulting corner over before good link-up play between Isobel Christiansen and Daphne Corboz saw the latter fire just wide inside the area.

Durham were yet to get a grip on the game, with them spending the majority of it so far in their own half, defending. Their resistance was broken after just 12 minutes too, Johnston, who had spoke about taking her chance to start today, curling home from the edge of the box after more good work from Christiansen.

Floodgates open as City extend their lead

The lead could've been doubled only five minutes later as Nikita Parris raced onto a ball over the top, but Moorhouse came on to thwart her, albeit unfairly in the referee's eyes who judged the goalkeeper to have fouled the forward, resulting in the game's first yellow card. Still, Houghton was unable to punish her further as her free-kick hit the wall.

However, Parris would breach Durham's compact backline again shortly afterwards, Christiansen again involved in the build. The young midfielder looked to be in to net the goal her performance thus far deserved, but instead she was unselfish and squared to the on-loan Everton striker to tap in from close range.

Parris came close to her brace only two minutes later, Toni Duggan lofting the ball over the Durham defence for her to strike, but her half volley just missed the bottom corner at Moorhouse's far post.

It would be Christiansen who added the third on the half hour mark though, Duggan wreaking havoc down the left once more in the build-up. The England international turned her opponent inside out on the flank before driving a low cross in for her team-mate to turn goalwards to make it 3-0 inside 30 minutes.

Hosts end the half strong and with another goal

Though replacing Bronze is perhaps one of the toughest jobs in this team, Lipman was doing a good job on the right and almost got an assist for her troubles as her pace beat her opponent and her low cross found Christiansen, but the goal-scorer couldn't add to her tally this time as her effort flashed wide.

Durham had their first shot at goal, albeit one well wide of the mark, with just over five minutes of the half remaining, but they were still having to work as hard as ever at the other end to keep City at bay as the interval neared. Parris was the one posing problems this time as she found herself on the right wing and knocked in a deep cross, with Houghton on the receiving end as she headed goalwards, but Julie Nelson was there to make a terrific goal-line clearance.

Yet, the inevitable fourth would come just a few minutes before half-time. Christiansen's quick change of pace saw her burst through midfield and play in Parris, and when her attempted return pass to her team-mate failed, the striker tried her luck inside and found the back of her net to bag a first half brace.

The referee's whistle followed shortly after and the half came to a close, with Durham having plenty to think about and City having plenty to be happy with.

Durham in need of more midfield presence

The main reason for Durham's lack of a first-half threat was due to their non-existent presence in the middle of the park.

Houghton had simply controlled the game for City in the first 45 minutes, and with the lively likes of Corboz and Christiansen around her, their WSL 2 opponents couldn't get near them and weren't seeing any of the ball.

At the break, City opted to bring on youngster Georgia Stanway for Kathleen Radtke, shifting Houghton back into defence and Corboz into the holding midfield role. It's likely that the change was made to give the substitute some experience with the points seemingly in the bag, as opposed to the defender being injured, but it was a change that Durham could look the capitalise on with the midfield losing a real physical presence and inheriting some inexperience. 

City pick up where they left off

However, the substitute had no real impact on the flow of the game as City remained on top immediately from the restart.

Off target efforts from Johnston and Duggan kicked things off, before Moorhouse made a terrific stop to deny the former and a more comfortable one shortly after to thwart Parris. Johnston really should've added to her opening strike with eight minutes gone though, sidestepping the challenge of her marker at the near post to move within a few yards of the target, only to place her eventual effort inches wide of the far post. 

A combination of City over complicating things and trying to pass the ball into the back of the net, and Durham defending very deep restricted the hosts' chances of a fifth though.

More changes as City remain comfortable

Stanway had settled very nicely into the game very quickly, with two decent efforts at goal showing this even further, and on the hour Nick Cushing decided to introduce two more substitutes to rest his key players.

Stokes made way for Georgia Brougham whilst the incredibly impressive Christiansen was withdrawn as Natasha Flint entered the fray. 

Again, the changes didn't disrupt City's fluency going forward though as Houghton and Johnston were again denied by Moorhouse, whilst Parris was twice thwarted by good saves as she searched for her hat-trick. She thought she'd got exactly this with just over ten minutes to go, but the referee pulled her up for kicking the ball out of the 'keeper's hands before she found the back of an empty net.

Durham end the game more positively

As the game entered its final 15 minutes, more was seen from Durham as they pushed up a little more and pressed higher.

One promising counter in particular occurred as they displayed the transitional play they had been lacking all evening, but it would eventually slow down and be snuffed out as a result when they got into the final third.

Nicki Gears thought she was in on goal shortly after, but the offside flag stopped her in her tracks. Then, minutes later, she looked to have latched onto Rebecca Beech's through ball, only for Houghton to use her strength and intervene at the last moment. 

Natalie Gutteridge was showing more of her bite in midfield as she nibbled at the heels of Corboz and her team-mates too, but this also left Durham stretched as times, which Flint tried to take advantage of in the final five minutes as she danced past numerous challenges and attempted to lob Moorhouse from distance, only for the 'keeper to get a hand to it and prevent her positioning from being exploited.

City finish with a flourish

Following Flint's effort, Houghton herself had a pop from 40 yards out and was almost very successful as her effort landed just on the roof of the away net. Johnston, however, would finally get her side's fifth goal on the board with four minutes remaining.

Having had so much joy down the right flank in the second-half, she will have been cursing her luck that she hadn't added to her one goal for the night, especially given that she had seen a handful of great chances. Yet, her persistence paid dividends as she found her way into the box and slotted home coolly from close range.

The forward was looking for a hat-trick before the night was up too, Lipman playing her in down the right and allowing her the chance to drive towards goal, but, as the angle turned against her, she opted for goal herself when she probably should've squared to either Duggan or Parris in the box - who let her know this too.

Still, there was little to complain about at full-time as the final whistle came with the scoreline reading 5-0 in the hosts' favour. Durham improved after the break and especially as the game progressed, but City were simply too good in the end as their superior quality shone through in an all-round splendid performance.

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About the author
Amee Ruszkai
Head of the Sunderland, Swansea City and women football sections at VAVEL UK. Email: [email protected]