WSL leaders Manchester City dispatched their National League opponents on Sunday with a dominant six goal victory to move into the last 16 of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup. AFC Bournemouth may be unbeaten at the top of the Southern Premier Division, but their record-breaking run in this competition was brought to an end by the clinical finishing of a City side brimming with household names.
With the game hosted at AFC Totton’s Snows Stadium, cheered on by a sell-out crowd of over two thousand, the Cherries matched their illustrious visitors in the early stages of the game. But it would only be a matter of time before Manchester City’s international stars carved out the opening goal, as Spain’s Leila Ouahabi whipped in a cross for Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw to head home after 19 minutes.
The real damage was done in the last five minutes of the first half, when City added three more goals as ‘Bunny’ Shaw turned provider – setting up Lauren Hemp for the second and Laura Coombs for two more as the Blues took a 4-0 lead into the break. And if the Bournemouth defenders were pleased to see the back of Shaw when she was substituted in the second-half, their job didn’t get any easier with the introduction of Dutch international Vivianne Miedema, who would add two more goals to wrap up a comfortable victory.
We were fortunate to have photographer Ian Middlebrook on hand to capture the action.
