- Albion are beaten 6-0 by Manchester City
- Georgia Stanway scores a hat-trick for City
- Caroline Weir, Nikita Parris and Claire Emslie also on target
- Albion next face Yeovil Town a week today
Brighton & Hove Albion were beaten 6-0 by a clinical Manchester City side at the Broadfield Stadium.
It was a game where Albion more than held their own against their illustrious opponents in stages of the match, but City took their chances with ruthless efficiency to claim an emphatic win.
Danielle Buet had Albion’s first chance of the game, but her set piece was comfortably gathered by Ellie Roebuck. Kirsty Barton then took aim with an angled shot from distance which hit the roof of the net.
City gradually began to find their rhythm after Albion’s fast start, as Marie Hourihan took a whack after bravely thwarting Nikita Parris from close range.
Laura Rafferty and Victoria Williams were next on hand to deny the City forward, as the duo combined to prevent the England international from pulling the trigger.
But the deadlock was broken in City’s favour with 21 minutes on the clock, after Georgia Stanway took advantage of a lapse in the Albion defence and fired into the bottom corner past Hourihan.
The visitors sought to quickly double their advantage, as Jill Scott went through on goal in a very similar position to Stanway’s goal, but she fired wide.
Albion arguably had their best chance of the half when Ellie Brazil whipped an enticing cross into the box, which resulted in Aileen Whelan miscuing her effort, before Chloe Peplow shot past the left post.
Nick Cushing’s side doubled their advantage just two minutes before the break when Parris cut the ball back across to Caroline Weir, who slotted her strike in from close range.
Powell’s team came out after the re-start with added urgency and had a golden opportunity to gain a foothold in the game when Brazil had two attempts on target, before Steph Houghton headed Ini Umotong’s follow-up strike off the line.
Umotong continued to be involved in the thick of the action, as her ball across the box found its way to Whelan, who agonisingly fired wide from inside the box.
Just as Albion looked to be finding a way back into the game, City struck twice in the space of five minutes to effectively kill the contest.
Stanway got her second with 64 minutes played after seeing her shot squirm past Hourihan, before completing her hat-trick with a fine solo effort to seemingly put the result beyond doubt.
Albion’s spirits didn’t drop though as they continued to push forward and get a consolation goal, as Umotong miscued her effort from Brazil’s cross.
But Nick Cushing’s team got a fifth goal courtesy of Parris, who nodded the ball home from an in-swinging cross from the right to make it 5-0.
There was still time for City to add extra gloss to the scoreline in the 90th minute courtesy of Claire Emslie, who reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box and fired in a sixth goal.
ALBION: Hourihan; Barton, Rafferty, Williams, Nilden (Gibbons 73); Peplow (Brett 85), Buet, Legg (Umotong 46); A. Whelan, Green, Brazil.
SUBS NOT USED: Gillett (GK), F. Whelan, Perry, Natkiel.