Manchester City’s Gemma Bonner called on her side to be “a lot more ruthless” after her early strike was the only thing that separated City with FA WSL bottom side Bristol City on Wednesday night.
Bonner’s sixth goal of the season came just over a minute into the game when she met Caroline Weir’s freekick from the left and it meant Alan Mahon got off to a winning start in interim charge of the side.
City dominated the ball and had opportunities to add to their goal tally, but Sophie Baggaley in the Bristol net saved well from Ellen White, Jill Scott and Bonner.
“It wasn’t a pretty performance, we definitely could’ve been a lot more ruthless with the chances we had.” Bonner said.
“It’s important that we’ve not necessarily played well tonight, but we’ve still picked up the three points that was the most important thing.”
A familiar foe
In the last couple of months Bristol have lost 6-1 away to Chelsea and 11-1 away to Arsenal, but they have proven to be a bogie side for Man City in recent seasons.
Last season the Vixens earned two draws against City and Bonner was wary of the threat Tanya Oxtoby’s side possess:
“Last year we dropped points to Bristol twice, so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game.
“We learnt lessons last year, especially when you’ve got a team like Bristol with quick players up front they’ve always got that dangerous counter attack so it’s important that we stay switched on.” she added.
Alan Mahon’s first game
The win means that Mahon also got off to a record-breaking start with the result being City’s eleventh consecutive home win in the WSL – a new record in the competition.
After being in charge for just over a week the Irishman praised the attitude of his players:
"They've been so professional all week so I'm really proud of them. I'm just here to stable the ship and take it one game at a time.”.