Chloe Kelly faces tough task getting back into Man City's starting XI: Winners and losers as Lionesses star Jess Park shines in Cityzens' first pre-season outing in Australia
Getty Images/GOALWith players like Lauren Hemp, Vivianne Miedema and Mary Fowler also battling for spots in attack, the competition in Gareth Taylor's side is fierce
After Arsenal and Chelsea began their pre-season preparations in the heat and humidity of the United States last week, fellow Women's Super League title hopefuls Manchester City got theirs underway in rather different conditions on Wednesday. The rain was pouring down in the Western Australia winter as the Cityzens played out a disappointing 0-0 draw with league rivals Leicester, though they did emerge victorious in the match's eventual penalty shootout.
This was an entirely different test for Gareth Taylor's side when compared to those that the Gunners and the Blues faced. The two London rivals took on in-season NWSL teams in the U.S. before facing each other at the end of the week, while the onus was instead on City in this game to dominate, dictate and overcome a Leicester team that wanted to hit them on the counter. Unsurprisingly, given it was their first game of this tour, the Manchester side couldn't carve out too many openings in the first half, with Janina Leitzig only forced into a couple of simple saves while Saori Takarada went closest at the other end when her clean strike whistled just past Khiara Keating's post.
The Foxes came out flying in the second half, with three strong saves needed to be made by Ayaka Yamashita, on for Keating at the break, before Leila Ouahabi nervously watched the referee wave away appeals for handball against her in the Man City box. However, once Taylor started to bring on the big guns – Bunny Shaw, Vivianne Miedema and Mary Fowler all among his second half substitutes – the pressure was all on Lize Kop at the other end, who denied Fowler, Shaw and Jess Park before time was up.
Miedema, signed on a free transfer from Arsenal this summer, twice thought she'd helped her new side avoid the need for penalties, first when she struck the bar with a header and then when Kop brought her down in the box, only for the referee to again refrain from pointing to the spot. No matter, because it was the Dutch striker who sealed the deal in the shootout, calmly scoring the winning spot-kick after Yamashita had saved two of Leicester's.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from HBF Park…
