Analysis from Chris Beesley as Liverpool defeat Everton 2-1 in the Women's FA Cup fifth round
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Risa Shimizu passes the ball while under pressure from Ornella Vignola during the Adobe Women's FA Cup fifth round match between Liverpool and Everton on February 22, 2026
Risa Shimizu passes the ball while under pressure from Ornella Vignola during the Adobe Women's FA Cup fifth round match between Liverpool and Everton on February 22, 2026(Image: Jess Hornby - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
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It was a tale of two goalkeepers as Liverpool triumphed 2-1 against Everton to progress to the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup.
As someone who grew up watching Neville Southall and Bruce Grobbelaar duking it out between the sticks in Merseyside derbies, the contrasting displays of Jennifer Falk and Courtney Brosnan made for interesting viewing at Brewdog Stadium, an arena that was primarily built for the ball-handling code of rugby league.
Falk was victorious on the day, and the Sweden international who is currently on loan from Hacken where she’s played for the past decade, could still get her hands on the cup, but she couldn’t get them to the loose ball that rebounded off the post from substitute Aurora Galli’s shot and then calamitously hit her before bouncing into her own net.
The 32-year-old could perhaps be forgiven for being caught off guard as she’d had so little to do for the preceding 72 minutes as the Blues struggled to lay a glove on the hosts. At the other end, captain Courtney Brosnan, who had signed a new contract ahead of the team’s crucial 1-0 home win over her previous club West Ham United, enjoyed contrasting fortunes as she was kept busy throughout.
The Republic of Ireland international will have been disappointed by the way she conceded the first goal when Mia Enderby beat her with a header from point-blank range before the pair collided and the 20-year-old scorer was forced off on a stretcher following some lengthy treatment.
Her replacement Beata Olsson then doubled Liverpool’s lead with a close-range finish of her own – both came from deliveries from the outstanding Ceri Holland – but despite their commanding lead at the break, the Reds were denied several opportunities to rack up the score early in the second half as Brosnan kept them out with a string of impressive stops.
Liverpool manager Gareth Davies said: “I’m delighted. Obviously, the FA Cup is all about getting through.
“Having had experience in this competition as both a player and a manager, the ties will often throw up a favourite and an underdog but ties like this could go either way against our local rivals. I’m really pleased, I though the fans played a huge part today, they’ve been great here, they’ve been great all season, especially here at St Helens.
“It feels like we’re starting to turn this place into a difficult place to come. There were some nervy moments, but I felt like we saw the game out really well.”
Everton interim manager Scott Phelan said: “Overall, we’re obviously disappointed with the result. We thought that for the first half an hour of the game, there wasn’t too much in it, they’d had a little bit more control without threatening our goal too much.
“I seem to remember them having a shot from distance but apart from that, they had no chances of note. I thought we were just starting to get a foothold in the game until the first goal went in and that seemed to take the wind out of our sails.
“We didn’t really react to that or get any control in between goal one and two. Obviously, once the second one appears, it’s really tough.”