Liverpool are still yet to pick up a point in this season’s WSL after Manchester City came from a goal behind to win 2-1 at Anfield.
Cornelia Kapocs had given the Reds the lead before Iman Beney and Aoba Fujina’s goals gave City the win.
Liverpool remain in eleventh place in the table, above only fellow point-less strugglers West Ham. Here’s what went on.
Kapocs is ready to step up
Much has been said about Liverpool’s performances this season, but Cornelia Kapocs really seems to have grown into her role at Anfield.
Liverpool have scored few goals this season, under the bright lights of Anfield, it would have been easy to seize up, but Kapocs stepped up.
She headed home from a lovely, teasing cross by Ceri Holland and showed why she is such a nascent youngster in this Liverpool team.
Kapocs scored Liverpool’s last goal in a 4-1 rout by Everton in early September where she leathered a shot in off the bar.
She has shown flashes of brilliance, including scoring a superb goal against Tottenham Hotspur last season.
Two Anfield goals under her belt this season, and a little consistency will help cement her place as Liverpool’s best attacking option.
Manchester City are a Bonafide great team
Having the strength of character to come from a goal behind at Anfield, albeit against a shaky Liverpool team has to be cause for optimism for Man City manager Andree Jeglertz.
City weren’t at their best for large portions of this game, but showed a mentality that will keep them in the hunt as title contenders.
Amid a team with experienced world-class talent, the likes of Bunny Shaw and Alex Greenwood, it will be pleasing to see the youngsters stepping up in the big moments.
The scorer of City’s equaliser was 19-year-old Iman Beney, signed from Swiss football this past summer.
The weight that these recent acquisitions hold, is a microcosm of the gulf in quality between City and this current Liverpool team.
The weight of Matt Beard’s death
While impossible to quantify, it is important to understand that the death of Matt Beard, similar to the impact of Diogo Jota’s death on the men’s team, will be weighing heavily on the Liverpool team right now.
So many of the staff at the club and the players in the team, will have had working relationships with Matt Beard.
The man who was not all that long ago around the place and having such a big impact on careers, no longer being around at all is hard to comprehend.
Beard was a larger-than-life character and a great football manager who brought Liverpool back into the WSL.
It is thanks in large part to him, that we have the privilege of playing big games against the likes of City under the lights at Anfield.