Liverpool triumphed over Everton in a Merseyside derby tonight to mark their final fixture of the Women’s League Cup group stage.
Matt Beard’s Liverpool outfit took to the stage of St Helen’s Stadium with vengeance, but without key attacking midfielder Marie Höbinger, who has been sidelined for some weeks due to injury. Brian Sørensen’s starting eleven was a youthful one, including 17-year-old defender Issy Hobson.
Goals from Jenna Clark, Mia Enderby, and Cornelia Kapocs saw the Reds rule the roost, whilst the Toffees trailed behind. Liverpool will not know their Women’s League Cup fate for certain until the Manchester United vs Newcastle United result is in, meanwhile Everton take their leave from the competition.
The Lineups
LIV: Micah; Daniels, Clark, Fisk, Silcock, Hinds, Nagano, Shaw, Holland, Kiernan, Kapocs
EVE: Ramsey; Hobson, Bissell, Lawley, Sarri, Guy, Cole, Settle, Jones, Thomas, Olesen
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The Action
Clark broke the deadlock for the Reds in the 28th minute with a header, after threatening to do so earlier in the 17th minute when she looked to curl one past Emily Ramsey. Clark’s opener marked her second goal wearing Liverpool colours.
Just five minutes later, Republic of Ireland international Leanne Kiernan threatened to double the hosts’ lead with a shot from distance ricocheting off of the woodwork.
Liverpool continued to dominate over their Merseyside rivals, who failed to find an equaliser prior to the referee’s half-time whistle.
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The Reds emerged from the tunnel hungry for a second, and put constant pressure on the visiting Toffees.
Kiernan went down with an apparent knee injury at the 50-minute mark, with Mia Enderby coming on to replace her. The resulting free kick almost found the back of the net, but was cleared by the Everton back line before a scrappy counter-attack attempt was launched.
Despite moments of grit in defence from the blue shirts, Beard’s side doubled their lead when some sloppy passing around the back from Everton in the 58th minute of play provided Mia Enderby with the chance to snatch the ball from the feet of the goalkeeper, and net it home.
Beard took the opportunity to provide some youngsters with some minutes, as Niamh McDonald made her first team debut replacing Ceri Holland in the 72nd minute.
Cornelia Kapocs delivered Liverpool their third, with a brave run forward leading to a stellar strike sent beyond the reach of Ramsey in the 83rd minute.
Everton searched briefly for a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the 90 with a corner, but it did not come. Instead, the Toffees earned their fourth after some quick thinking by Enderby, who pounced on a loose ball just at the edge of the Everton box.
The scoreline remained at 4-0 after a long eight minutes of added time, with several injuries taking place throughout what was a start-stop game. Hobson unfortunately left the field in the latter stages of the match on a stretcher due to a possible concerning head injury.
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The win sees Beard’s side claim Merseyside bragging rights after losing 1-0 to the Toffees in a Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) clash just a matter of weeks ago, thanks only to a contentious penalty call.
Liverpool face Arsenal this weekend in the final round of WSL fixtures before the winter break. Everton, meanwhile, will host Manchester City.