Manchester City's Women's Super League destiny remains in their hands after Rebecca Knaak delivered a priceless late winner to defeat Liverpool 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. It looked like the Cityzens were going to slip up again, thus taking the title out of their hands and opening the door for Arsenal to take advantage. But after chances were wasted by star names like Khadija Shaw and Kerolin, up came Knaak, from centre-back, in stoppage time to head home a goal that puts her side on the brink of a first WSL title in 10 years.
No team has ever boasted a larger lead at the top of the WSL, in a league in which no team has ever blown a seven-point advantage in the title race, but that has been chipped away at in recent weeks, with City slipping up against Aston Villa, Brighton and now Liverpool in a collapse that had the potential to be unlike any the competition has seen before. The Reds, placed third-from-bottom coming into this game, are a better side than their league position suggests, but City still had more than enough chances to put this match to bed well before Knaak's heroics.
The early opportunities, however, fell to Liverpool. Within the first five minutes, Aurelie Csillag had headed a decent chance over, Ayaka Yamashita was forced into a strong save by Denise O'Sullivan and Grace Fisk hit the post from a corner, with Jenna Clark also sending a header off target before City were able to carve out anything of their own. Despite starting poorly, and being put under regular pressure by a team coached by Gareth Taylor - who the Cityzens sacked last season, City still should've taken the lead when that first opening came, but Shaw couldn't beat Jennifer Falk after great work from Lauren Hemp.
It was a slightly different story after the break. City came out firing and it was Liverpool's turn to be put under pressure, but the hosts still couldn't quite carve out many clear-cut chances. Kerolin had a major one just past the hour, when slipped through by Shaw, but Falk made a huge save to preserve her clean sheet, with the Sweden international also coming big in stoppage time to tip a Shaw header over the bar. This was after Liverpool came close to taking the lead again, when Beata Olsson, the Reds' top-scorer, strolled into the box completely unmarked, only to send her header wide of the target.
As the clock ticked into additional time, though, City finally found the breakthrough. Having made save after save to keep the leaders out, Falk somehow couldn't hold onto Knaak's rather tame header by comparison, spilling the ball into the back of her own net to spark scenes of sheer jubilation and relief from those in blue. The WSL title remains in City's hands and victory over West Ham on the final day would deliver a first triumph in this competition since 2016.
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