On the 10th of October, Manchester City and Barcelona teams faced off at Manchester City Academy Stadium. Manchester City beat Barcelona 2-0. This was City’s first match in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season. It is a good start for Man City in this season.
Barcelona are the defending champions but did not perform well in this match. Barcelona failed to score for the first time in the group stage, which has not happened before. Let’s take a look at the details of the match: Man City vs Barcelona.
Man City vs Barcelona: Match Details
Manchester City took the lead in the first half. City’s young defender Naomi Layzell scored her first career goal from a corner kick.
In the second half of the game, Barcelona stepped up their attack. They had several chances to come close to scoring but ultimately failed. For example, Caroline Graham Hansen’s shot hit the post and Ewa Pajor’s shot was saved, while Aitana Bonmati and Keira Walsh’s shots were saved by City’s keeper Yamashita and the defenders.
As the game entered its final stages, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw made it 2-0 with 15 minutes left in the game when she collected a ball lifted by Naomi Layzell and managed to fire it into the goal. This eased the tension after Barcelona’s pressure.
Conclusion
Man City beat Barcelona, one of the top teams in women’s football in Europe, through a strong performance, particularly in defence and on the counter-attack. Despite Barcelona taking the initiative at one point in the game, City, with their tough defence and efficient attacking play, secured a very convincing victory, demonstrating the team’s ability to hold their own against the stronger teams in Europe. The win of Man City vs Barcelona can be labelled as one of City’s finest performances under coach Gareth Taylor.
