Gareth Taylor has spent a large part of his coaching career trying to catch Emma Hayes’ coattails. Perhaps that’s why Manchester City’s 0-1 win over Chelsea, which erased the champions’ three-point lead in the Women’s Super League, feels like a watershed moment. “This is a big step for us,” Taylor said. “In the past, we’ve been a little soft defensively in these moments. I know margins are going to be tight. But confidence is high.”
Khadija Shaw’s early goal proved decisive but Taylor reserved his richest praise for a defense that had conceded just eight goals all season and held Chelsea at bay in a thrilling second half at the back. “We’ve added a little more grit defensively, we’ve worked a lot on set pieces and the spirit of the club is really good,” Taylor said. “Sometimes it’s hard for players to play the game instead of the occasion.”
It was Manchester City’s first win at Kingsmeadow since 2016. We have now broken that record and we deserve it,” he said. “We made some good plays in the first half, and in the second half, our team’s defensive performance was outstanding.”
Hayes, for her part, is in no mood to mourn her proud three-year home league unbeaten run at Kingston. “I don’t think people are going to write that on my tombstone,” she scoffed. “Look, we all know this is a razor-thin game. We should have given penalties in the first half, but these things happen. In the second half we dominated but the expected goals were low [expected goals] Until the last 10 minutes of the game. Their great xG chance came from the goal. A draw would have been a fair result. But they took a chance. “
Hayes isn’t particularly worried about the disparity between the top players, either. “I just focus on acting,” she said. “Prepare, perform, recover. I’m not going to spend time looking up and down the league. It’s a waste of time. I just know we lost three points.”
