Grace Fisk scores twice as Liverpool Women win Women Super League opener

Liverpool Women kicked off their Barclays Women Super League campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over newly promoted Charlton Athletic.

Grace Fisk usually spends her time stopping other teams from scoring, but the Liverpool captain picked a brilliant sunny afternoon to do something completely different.

Playing away at Charlton Athletic, Fisk scored two unexpected goals. New signing Vivien Endemann also scored on her debut, and Cornelia Kapocs added a fourth with a late penalty. That gave Liverpool a comfortable 4-0 win to start the new Women's Super League season.

It was the dream start for new manager Gareth Taylor. The team looked sharp all over the pitch, played with plenty of confidence, and easily took all three points back home.

It was a tough day for Karen Hills’ side who offered very little by way of threatening the Liverpool goal, relying largely on set pieces and pot shots from range to which they had no success.

There were first competitive starts for Khiara Keating, who placed between the sticks following her move from Manchester City in the summer, and Endemann. The German winger joined Gareth Taylor’s side from Wolfsburg. Fellow new arrivals Natalia Ramos and Sara Agrez appeared on the bench.

For Charlton, Karen Hills named four debutants to kickstart their first-ever WSL season. Veteran fullback Ashleigh Neville made her first competitive appearance for the Addicks since her move from Leicester, while Emily van Egmond, Leah Davidson and Paula Partido were also greeted by the home fans for the first time.

The Reds were strong favourites coming into the match and for good reason. This is only the Addicks’ first season in the WSL since their disbandment in 2007. Meanwhile, Liverpool have been in the division for 12 seasons across two different spells.

 The difference in quality was telling from kick-off. With Charlton attempting to remain compact in a turgid 4-3-3 formation, there was no respite from Liverpool’s constant attacking pressure. So much so that for large periods the match felt like an attack vs defence training drill.

It wasn’t long before the pressure told. From one of the visitors’ many corners, after taking it short in the eighth minute Cornelia Kapocs dug out a cross from the byline. After a poor flap away by Sophie Whitehouse in goal, captain Grace Fisk was on hand to bundle the ball over the line to put the visitors ahead.

The match continued with the same flow. The hosts had no answer to Liverpool’s unrelenting attacks, all the while Jodie Hutton became increasingly isolated up front for the home side. The closest they came to a breakthrough was in the 13th minute when Ellie Mason fired over the bar after a cross from the right found her free at the back post. Alas, the fullback snatched at the chance.

The Reds came close to doubling the lead shortly before the half-hour mark. A sharp double save was required of Whitehouse to deny Ceri Holland her first of the season, restricting the scoreline to 1-0 at the break.

Fisk and Liverpool doubled their tally shortly after the interval. Endemann, as she had done all game to this point, beat Mason down the line where she managed to pull the ball back to the edge of the box. Once again, the Liverpool captain was there to stroke past Whitehouse who had no chance.

Ten minutes later, Endemann scored again at the near post to make it 3-0 after 52 minutes. In stoppage time, Ashleigh Neville gave away a penalty by fouling Natalia Ramos. Kapocs easily scored the penalty into the bottom right corner, sealing a 4-0 win and sending Liverpool to the top of the WSL table.

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