WHAT HAPPENED
Our Women’s FA Cup journey came to an end as we were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
Jordan Nobbs found the back of the net with a trademark strike from distance, but we were ultimately made to pay for a slow start.
Speaking in his pre-match interview, Joe Montemurro highlighted the importance of settling into the game early on - yet it was the hosts who took control and soon after they found the reward.
Exposed in midfield, Leah Williamson was forced into a foul and Steph Houghton duly fired the resulting free-kick into the top corner from distance.
City continued to dominate play in search of a second and looked the more dangerous side, but with a moment of magic from Nobbs, we found ourselves level against the run of play.
The England international received the ball on the edge of the area and looked for a one-two, before sending a dipping effort over the keeper and into the back of the net.
It was exactly what we needed to regain confidence and lift spirits - but less than two minutes later, Sam Mewis capitalised on some sloppy defending to restore City’s lead.
We were dealt another blow shortly after the break too, as captain Kim Little was forced off through injury.
Adopting a more direct and route one approach, we finished as the stronger side and looked set to grab a late equaliser through Vivianne Miedema - but she was unable to provide the finishing touch to Katie McCabe’s searching delivery.
WHAT’S NEXT
We must now turn our attention to our Women’s Super League clash with Bristol City on Sunday.
The game will take place at Meadow Park with kick-off at 2pm (UK time).
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