Manchester City played out a high-quality draw with Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League after an unprecedented week of off-field tension at the English club.
The result – which was a fair reflection of an even but entertaining game – left both sides with two points from their opening two fixtures, but City will know their league phase opponents should theoretically become less challenging from hereon, after their opening draw at Bayern Munich.
The match was played in a week when the wider football club has dominated the headlines for the wrong reasons and, while Andrée Jeglertz was at pains to insist that it has been “business as usual” for the women’s team despite the damning guilty verdict released by the Premier League towards the men’s side, there was a strange mood around this stadium in the buildup to kick-off with opinions mixed.
Speaking to supporters on the bridge that connects this venue with the neighbouring Etihad Stadium, some appeared relaxed about the situation and unsure what it had to do with the women’s team, while others were clearly troubled and looking forward to watching some football as a form of escapism.
An elderly City fan, who did not wish to be named, said pre-match: “We’ve been through rough times before, we’ll come through rough times again,” in a matter-of-fact manner. Another simply demonstrated what appears to be a growing dislike for reporters asking about the 115 charges when they said angrily “you’re from the media?” before using an expletive and promptly walking away.
A much politer, younger woman simply expressed her sadness and her hopes that it wouldn’t cause the players stress. The cute sight of two small youngsters – one wearing a Kylian Mbappé shirt and the other a Khadija Shaw one – with excited looks on their faces as they walked towards the turnstiles was a reminder that for many the only important thing was the pleasure of seeing a game of football.
Once the match started, there were occasional references to the news from the stands; midway through the first half one home fan sang ‘Sheikh Mansour, my lord, Sheikh Mansour, oh lord, Sheikh Mansour’, to the tune of Kumbaya, although nobody else appeared to join in. There was also a small group of men carrying an inflatable banana in one corner defiantly chanting about ‘City going down with a billion in the bank’. In general, though, the regular Women’s Super League match-going fans who are members of the supporters club seemed focused on their usual repertoire of fan chants to encourage the players, whether singing about the brilliance of Aoba Fujino and later chanting the name of Mary Fowler, who hit the crossbar with a header before the break.
By then Real Madrid were already ahead courtesy of Linda Caicedo’s clinical, low finish into the bottom corner after a lethal burst of pace. The visitors could have scored as early as the first minute, when a sloppy mistake by Carlotta Wamser allowed Felicia Schröder to shoot but her effort flew narrowly wide and bounced off the stanchion, rippling the net but from the wrong side. It was a sign of the Spanish team’s intent and they looked sharp through the opening 45 minutes, albeit City were moving the ball nicely at times too.
City’s play was significantly more urgent and incisive after the break and – after Yui Hasegawa spurned a volleyed chance when she was in space inside the box – it did not take long for the hosts to equalise. Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw turned and clinically fired into the corner of the net with great technique after good pressing from City led to Hasegawa winning the ball in midfield and feeding Shaw in the area. It was the Jamaica striker’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions and her first of this Champions League campaign.
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Suddenly the WSL champions were dominating the territory, although Caicedo did go close at the other end with a diagonal shot that bounced wide. The introductions of Beth Mead, Sam Coffey and Grace Clinton from City’s bench only seemed to further strengthen the hosts.
Hasegawa volleyed just wide again, this time from the second phase after a half-clear corner, in another let-off for Real Madrid, who had gone close themselves at the other end when Ayaka Yamashita did well to save from Caicedo.
The home fans were on their feet to applaud Yamashita and chant her name when she later produced a quick reaction save to keep out Irune Dorado’s close-range effort. Both teams pushed for a late winner but in the end had to settle for a point.
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