Park earns City hard-fought Leicester win | OneFootball

Jess Park's strike helped Manchester City to a battling 1-0 win over Leicester in the Barclays Women's Super League.

It took until the 70th minute before the deadlock was broken, with Park firing across goal after ghosting in at the far post to send us ahead.

It was a lively first 45 minutes, as both sides had a flurry of chances despite the half ending goalless.

If the game hadn't already been exciting enough it also saw the long-awaited return of Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood, who received a warm reception at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester, unbeaten on home soil since November, continued to press for a route back into the game, but City held on to close the gap on the WSL top three to four points.

What Happened?

The sun was beating down at the King Power Stadium as City looked to bounce back from our 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend.

Leicester stood between us and an all important three points and, with the Foxes holding an impressive home record, it was set to be an exciting match up.

City looked to pile the pressure on early as Kerstin Casparij fired a cross towards the head of Kerolin Nicoli, but a Leicester defender jumped the highest, before the ball looped into Janina Leitzig’s hands.

The tempo was turned to the max as City created another big chance inside 15 minutes.

The Leicester defenders struggled to clear the ball as it fell to Casparij with clear sight of goal, but the Dutch international volleyed the ball over the bar on the turn.

At the other end, Yuka Momiki went close for the Foxes when she cut inside and attempted to find the far corner but her shot trickled past the post.

There was also excitement off the pitch as Hemp and Greenwood warmed up on the touchline much to the delight of the City faithful.

As the half progressed Casparij once again went close when Park, who swapped sides with Lily Murphy, played the ball towards her at the far post.

It looked like City would find the opener when she headed towards goal, but again the ball flashed wide of the target.

An incredibly lively first half ended goalless despite an abundance of chances for City to ripple to Leicester net.

The second half continued with the same high intensity from both sides, but it was Leicester with the first chance after the restart.

Shannon O’Brien chased down Gracie Prior and attempted to play a pass behind into Hannah Cain, but Rebecca Knaak got a crucial foot on the ball to prevent the hosts from finding the breakthrough.

After a tense ten minutes with City holding possession, Cain ran through on goal again with only Keating to beat but thankfully our 'keeper read the ball to deny the Foxes.

With Greenwood and Hemp poised to return to the field, a surge of cheers were heard from the corner where the City fans had supported us in full voice all afternoon.

A goal had been building for City all afternoon and in the 70th minute Park found that breakthrough.

It was a beautiful goal, with the winger picking the ball up on the right wing, before she taking a touch and smashing into the top corner.

Leicester were far from out of the game though, and thought they had found an equaliser a minute later, but the linesman had the flag up for offside to cut their celebrations short.

City knew that the game was far from over, despite the win being tantalisingly close, and had to hold firm to weather a considerable Leicester storm.

But we also carried a threat on the counter, with Kerolin Nicoli and Hemp both going close in the dying minutes.

Ultimately, it would end up being a one-goal victory for the Blues though, with the players embracing at the full-time whistle knowing we'd had to dig deep to get over the line.

How we lined up

Nick Cushing named an unchanged side from the team that drew 1-1 with Everton in the Women’s Super League.

Khiara Keating started in goal, with a back four of Casparij, Prior, Knaak and Ouahabi in front of her.

In the middle of the park was Aleixandri, Hasegawa and Coombs.

With Kerolin Nicoli lead the line between Murphy on the left wing and Park on the right wing.

Leicester XI: Leitzig, Tierney, Howard, Cayman (C), Ale, Thibaud, Cain (Goodwin 63'), O’Brien (Eiriksdottir 70'), Chossenotte (Las 70'), Momiki, Swaby

Subs: Nevin, Takarada, Rose, Clark, Torres, Sherwood.

City XI: Keating, Casparij, Prior, Knaak (60 Greenwood), Ouahabi, Aleixandri (C), Hasegawa, Coombs, Park (Wienroither 86), Murphy (60 Hemp), Kerolin Nicoli

Subs: Annets, Yamashita, Layzell, Oyama, Thomas, Davies

What it means

Our win over Leicester means we remain fourth in the WSL table on 39 points.

However, the victory cuts the gap between ourselves and on our cross city rivals Manchester United to just four points.

What's next

We travel across the city as we face Manchester United in the WSL at Old Trafford, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 (UK) on Sunday 4th May.