HOW IT HAPPENED
Joe Montemurro picked up a win in his first match in charge as we progressed to the semi-finals of the Continental Cup thanks to goals from Jordan Nobbs, Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead.
We dominated the opening exchanges of the match, probing the Black Cats’ back line early on, and came within a few inches of opening the scoring when Dan Carter struck the crossbar, having been teed up by Miedema inside the penalty area.
A few moments later, though, we did break the deadlock when Nobbs coolly side-footed Lisa Evans’ cross past Rachel Laws.
We continued to maintain control of the game, but failed to create many chances. That was, until Miedema timed her run perfectly to meet Carter’s delivery and head in, doubling our lead on the stroke of half-time.
Our intensity dropped after the break, and the visitors soon found a way back into the tie through Bridget Galloway, who took advantage of a misplaced pass from Carter.
Despite this setback, we pushed to restore our two-goal cushion, and very nearly did so when Carter raced down the left hand-side and crashed a powerful effort off the post.
Soon after, Evans almost put the cherry on top of a fantastic run from deep, as she wiggled her way through on goal, but could only poke the ball narrowly wide of the target.
With full-time nearing, Sunderland upped the tempo in search of an equaliser, but it was Montemurro’s side who scored the all-important next goal through former Black Cat Mead, who raced through and slotted the ball in at the near post.
WHAT IT MEANS
Victory sees us progress to the semi-finals of the Continental Cup, where we could face one of Chelsea, Manchester City or Reading.
WHAT’S NEXT
We travel to Chelsea in our next fixture in the New Year, as we look to climb up the league table under Montemurro.
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