Hemp terrorises strugglers to end City’s winless streak in style
England winger Lauren Hemp posed a “constant threat” Leicester City were unable to handle as Manchester City ended their four-game winless streak in the Women’s Super League.
Hemp tormented the hosts’ defence with a dazzling display that earned high praise from both managers, while Keira Walsh’s sweetly struck first-time strike from range was the pick of the game’s goals as bottom club Leicester suffered their sixth defeat in six matches.
Without a victory in the WSL since the opening weekend, City endured a nightmare start when Leicester’s Manchester United-supporting striker Jess Sigsworth pounced on lapse defending from Jill Scott to run clear and slot the ball past goalkeeper Karima Taieb in the first minute.
However, City responded well to dominate the match, hitting the crossbar through Georgia Stanway before Scotland’s Caroline Weir blasted in the leveller after Demi Stokes’s cross was not cleared.
Fit-again holding midfielder Walsh put the visitors ahead with a powerful drive, before Hemp and Leicester goalkeeper Kirstie Levell became involved in an entertaining duel. Levell saved three times from Hemp before the City player finally struck her deserved goal with 19 minutes remaining, meeting Stanway’s pass to shoot into the bottom corner.
Substitute Laura Coombs added a fourth for City in the latter stages, on an afternoon when they could have scored eight or nine had it not been for the agility of Levell.
City manager Gareth Taylor was delighted by Hemp’s performance, saying: “Today she looked so dangerous from the start and took her goal really well. She was a constant threat. She’s a fantastic player for us, a fantastic outlet.”
Such was the danger being posed by Hemp down the visitors’ left, that Leicester actually made a straight substitution at right-back after just 34 minutes.
Manager Jonathan Morgan explained: “Lauren Hemp was brilliant, wasn’t she? G [Georgia Brougham] is positionally brilliant, but Hemp just had the pace on her, so we opted to bring Sophie [Howard] on, who is a little bit more aggressive going into the challenge, just to try and slow her down that way. It was a tactical decision.”
In the end it mattered little, as Hemp continued to run the show.
Leicester City (4-4-2) Levell; Brougham (Howard 34), Mcmanus, Plumptre, Purfield; O’brien (Devlin 61), Tierney, Pike, De Graaf (Flint 61); Sigsworth, Bailey-gayle (Barker 75). Subs Lambourne, Grant, Zajmi, Camwell.
Booked O’brien.
Manchester City (4-3-3) Taieb; Stanway, Scott, Greenwood, Stokes; Angeldahl, Walsh, Weir (Coombs 77); Park (Beckie 81), White, Hemp. Subs Raso, Losada, Mace, Pilling, Kennedy.
Referee Helen Conley (Durham).