Gareth Taylor's side didn't find things easy, but their stars shone through in the end, with Vivianne Miedema and Mary Fowler both providing assists
Goals from Khadija Shaw and Jess Park allowed Manchester City to sneak past a spirited Aston Villa side and into the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, thanks to a 2-0 win. Though huge favourites to come out on top, it was not an easy outing for the home side, not helped by some wastefulness in front of goal in the first half. However, City's quality told in the end, with a world-class forward line making the difference in a hard-fought victory.
Gareth Taylor's side were on top from the get-go and should've been ahead before the break, with Shaw unable to convert a flurry of decent chances in particular. Instead, it was thanks to a fantastic save from goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita, an untroubled onlooker for most of the game, that City didn't go in at half time behind, with a strong hand denying Ebony Salmon after the England international burst through on goal just past the half-hour mark.
That perhaps served as a wake-up call for the Cityzens, who were able to break the deadlock just eight minutes after the break. Shaw wasn't going to miss this time, showing remarkable composure to turn and finish Mary Fowler's perfect pass, and Park doubled that lead with less than 20 minutes to go after great work by Vivianne Miedema.
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Villa tried to get back into things, and had star quality like Rachel Daly and Jordan Nobbs to turn to from the bench in their bid to do so, but it was goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo who remained their busiest player, denying the likes of Park and Fowler late on to keep the scoreline as respectable as the valiant visitors deserved.
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