Mark Sykes blasted a 67th-minute winner as Liam Manning’s first home game as Bristol City head coach ended with a 3-2 Championship victory over Middlesbrough.
The home side took a 37th-minute lead when young midfielder Taylor Gardner-Hickman cut in from the left and netted his first Robins goal with a superb curling right-footed effort that went in off the crossbar at Ashton Gate.
It was 2-0 in first-half injury time, Tommy Conway sending goalkeeper Seny Dieng the wrong way with a low spot-kick after Matty James had been brought down in the box by Dael Fry.
Boro were back in it after 50 minutes when a Matt Crooks shot came back off the crossbar and City defender Zak Vyner headed the rebound back past Max O’Leary for a bizarre own goal.
Two minutes later Crooks equalised with a low drive from an Emmanuel Latte Lath pass into the box, only for City to retake the lead through Sykes’ sweet volley from a narrow angle.
Both sides might have scored in a rousing finale, but Manning’s men held on for a hard-fought three points.
Middlesbrough started the game brightly and looked comfortable for much of the first half. They had the first effort at goal after five minutes when Sam Greenwood’s shot was hit straight at goalkeeper O’Leary.
Gardner-Hickman had a deflected shot gathered by Dieng when City threatened for the first time moments later.
Boro had the ball in the net midway through the first half when Isaiah Jones converted a low Greenwood cross at the far post – only to be flagged offside. Seconds later Lukas Engel shot wide for the visitors.
Gardner-Hickman’s brilliant strike came when home fans were starting to get frustrated by their team’s back-and-across football.
It sparked panic in the Middlesbrough ranks and Conway should have netted moments before his penalty when running onto a poor back-pass from Jones, only to be denied by Dieng’s sprawling save.
Fry was booked for a foul on Conway before the incident that saw him penalised for fouling James and the successful penalty ensured City left the field to a rousing ovation.
Michael Carrick sent his Boro team out early for the second half, which saw them attack towards the end occupied by their travelling fans.
Those supporters soon had their mood transformed by two quick goals and suddenly it was City looking shellshocked.
They recovered to go back in front when Rob Dickie’s header from a corner was saved and Sykes pounced to fire home the rebound.
Boro almost equalised again when a deflected cross from substitute Samuel Silvera hit the base of the near post and bounced back into play.
The visitors applied late pressure, but City almost snatched a fourth on the break when substitute Anis Mehmeti’s shot was saved by Dieng.
Man City's clash with Chelsea will decide WSL title, suggests Taylor
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor did not understate the importance of his side’s upcoming visit to Chelsea as he described the clash as “more than just a game”.
City currently sit top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) one point above closest rivals Chelsea on 19 points. The defending champions hold a game in hand, however, after their match against Manchester United was postponed.
Both enter the match undefeated, with Chelsea earning six wins from six while Manchester City have six wins and one draw from seven matches, only taking a point away at Arsenal.
Taylor’s managerial adversary, Sonia Bompastor, will be aiming to become the first-ever coach to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.
With City unbeaten in their last three WSL meetings with Chelsea (W2 D1), Taylor is aware of the impact a positive result at Stamford Bridge could have on his title aspirations.
"It is more than just another game, of course. We have proven so far that we can play good stuff and have got good results along the way," he said in his press conference.
"We have been difficult to play against. There is no denying, these games are really important. For us, it is a good game and the fact it is Stamford Bridge gives us something different. We are looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a game that everyone is excited about."
It will be the first time the two teams have met at Chelsea’s iconic stadium. The Blues have won all six of their previous matches at Stamford Bridge in the WSL by an aggregate score of 17-4.
It is the most any team has ever played in the competition at a home venue while maintaining a 100% win record.
While City won this fixture at Kingsmeadow last year, earning a 1-0 victory over Chelsea through a Bunny Shaw goal, their opponents ultimately went on to claim the title on goal difference on the final day.
Yet when asked whether outcomes in games against Chelsea will decide the title, he said: "Everything would suggest that [it will]. It's too hard to say. They have made a good start, similar to us.
"I think for us we want to stay consistent, I think that's really important. The league table at the moment looks a little lopsided because they have a game to play and of course we want to make sure that we can give the best versions of ourselves in order to get the best result.
"I think that trying to win the game for us is the objective and it never changes.
"And we have a real good opportunity to do that, particularly with some of the performances that we have seen already this season and that for us is going to be our main goal in this game, to go to win."
There was positive injury news ahead of the clash as Taylor confirmed top scorer Shaw would be fit to start, though fans will face a nervy wait for top assister Lauren Hemp’s late fitness test to determine whether the England winger will be involved.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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