Manchester City clung onto their perfect start to the WSL season with a breathless 4–2 win over Gareth Taylor’s Liverpool, a six-goal contest that swung violently before Lauren Hemp finally slammed the door shut in stoppage time.
On a cool night at the Joie Stadium, City’s unbeaten run looked under serious threat. For long stretches, Liverpool matched them stride for stride. Then the chaos took over.
Hemp strikes early, Liverpool bite back
City started like a side intent on ending the argument early. Thirteen minutes in, Hemp delivered the first blow.
New signing Carlotta Wamser, operating with the assurance of a long-term regular, picked out a clever ball into space. It broke kindly for Hemp, the No.11 taking full advantage as she drove beyond former teammate Khiara Keating and buried her finish. One clean movement. One ruthless strike. City in front.
Any thought of a routine home win vanished almost instantly.
Six minutes later, a lapse at the back invited Liverpool in. A defensive error from the hosts opened the door for Alice Bergström, who pounced and found the net, silencing the home crowd and dragging the visitors level. City’s early control evaporated in a single, punishing moment.
The shock jolted Liverpool into life. They began to press higher, to believe.
Endemann turns the tide, Shaw pounces on error
Nine minutes after the equaliser, City’s problems deepened. Vivien Endemann, alive to the space inside the box, met a close-range chance that Ayaka Yamashita could not keep out. From 1–0 up to 2–1 down, City suddenly looked rattled, their back line exposed and their composure tested.
Liverpool sensed vulnerability. City, though, still had their power forward lurking.
Bunny Shaw had been relatively quiet, but goal scorers only need a moment. That moment came courtesy of a mistake from Keating. Hemp’s shot took a deflection, Keating spilled it, and Shaw reacted first, tapping home to level the game. Clinical from the striker, brutal on her former teammate.
The first half had been wild, frantic, and open. The second half, by contrast, tightened. Both sides traded spells of possession, but the earlier chaos gave way to caution. For a while, it felt as though the game might drift towards a draw neither side truly wanted.
Then the tension snapped.
Late drama, late heartbreak for Liverpool
As the clock ticked towards 90 minutes, City finally forced the decisive break. A cross from substitute Grace Clinton arced dangerously into the Liverpool box, aiming for Shaw. The striker couldn’t quite connect, but the danger wasn’t over.
Reds captain Grace Fisk, under pressure and facing her own goal, nudged the ball beyond Keating and into the net. An own goal, a cruel twist, and City were back in front just as the game seemed to be slipping into stalemate.
Liverpool, who had fought so hard to turn the match around earlier, now had seconds to respond. They pushed bodies forward. Space opened up. Hemp didn’t need a second invitation.
Deep into added time, she surged from beyond the halfway line, driving straight at the heart of Liverpool’s stretched defence. One-on-one with Keating again, Hemp stayed ice-cold, firing home to seal the result and cap a standout individual display.
From the first goal to the last, Hemp framed the night. City’s unbeaten run survives, their winning habit intact, but this was no procession. It was a warning: they can dazzle, they can wobble, and they can still find a way to win when the game turns wild.
