Manchester City were 4-1 victors against Everton in a pre-season friendly on Sunday, their final game before the season's curtain-raiser in the Community Shield against Chelsea next Saturday.
New signing Sam Mewis impressed in the match, scoring one and assisting two other goals.
The game
Gemma Bonner opened the scoring five minutes before the break, with the centre-back latching on to Ellen White's flick-on from Chloe Kelly's corner.
USWNT start Sam Mewis came on at the break, replacing Jill Scott, and quickly made an impact. Three minutes into the second half, she was brought down just outside of the box, and captain Steph Houghton curled a free-kick into the back of the net just as she did away to the Toffees last season.
Three minutes later, she earned herself an assist after providing a pinpoint cross for Lauren Hemp to head home and make it 3-0 to the blues.
Everton pulled one back through Simone Magill, who capitalised on an error from City's defence to slot past Ellie Roebuck.
Mewis netted the final goal of the game minutes before full time, latching onto a ball across the box from Steph Houghton to convert from close range.
Lineups
Manchester City: Roebuck, Stanway, Houghton (c), Bonner, Morgan, Walsh, Scott (Mewis 46), Coombs (Weir 46), Hemp, Kelly, White (Park 46).
Everton: MacIver, Moe Wold (Finnigan 80), Brougham, Sevecke, Turner, Christiansen (Pike 60), Stringer, Graham (Pattinson 70), Sorensen (Hughes 80), Magill (Gauvin 60), Boye-Hlorkah (Clemaron 70).
Gareth Taylor's thoughts
Speaking after the game, new head coach Gareth Taylor praised the performances of Chloe Kelly and Sam Mewis:
"Chloe’s done great. She’s so coachable. She’s a great girl to work with and she wants to do well.
"She’s come in seamlessly. That’s a big testament to the girls and the environment created for new signings.
"It’s the same with Sam. She’s had a difficult period stuck in quarantine but fair play to her for coming out and putting a shift in after one training session with the group. That’s amazing but I expected that from her and you can see that she’s a real team player."
Taylor also spoke about how he was pleased that he could already see his playstyle coming through into the side:
"I didn’t think it would at this point. I still think there’s a long way to go and many things to improve on.
"When you can feel the work you’re putting in on the training ground day by day coming out in games, it’s really nice for me and for the staff."
Sam Mewis on her first game in England:
New signing Mewis spoke of her excitement to be able to play with the team after her first game on Sunday:
"It was great to be out there with the girls – I feel as though I’m learning a lot, but there’s still a lot more to come. I really enjoyed playing in a live game though, especially after being on my own for a while in quarantine.
"I felt as though I got myself into some good positions throughout the second half and for my goal, Steph [Houghton] did really well to hit the ball back to me and then for my assist, Lauren [Hemp] did a great finish.
"The girls have been so welcoming though and have been telling me what to do and how the team plays, while the staff have been great as well.
"I still feel as though I’m learning though and there’s still a lot I can work on.
"I felt like the rest of the game was a bit up and down as I’m just settling in, but it was just great to be out there and have some success with the team."