Aston Villa Women Experts: Six-goal thriller at Villa Park sees Rachel Daly edge closer to Golden Boot
We’re delighted to welcome author Freya Taylor and former academy player Lyndsey Bissell as our exclusive Aston Villa Women experts. Each week they’ll be collaborating to give their views on the biggest talking points at the WSL club…
On a sunny afternoon in Aston, claret and blue banners lined the path to Villa Park; where Aston Villa would play their last home game of the 2022/23 campaign. The challengers for the day, Liverpool, have been a strong side since their promotion, sitting comfortably in the middle of the table in seventh place, 11 points behind their hosts. Villa would have known this wasn’t going to be an easy three points, as Carla Ward said in her pre-match interview how well Matt Beard has done with his team and the Reds certainly weren’t going to make it easy for them.
Even though Villa have already secured a fifth-place finish, they have officially won more matches this season than the previous two combined! There is the chance of a glittering gold trophy waiting on the horizon for Rachel Daly, as she sits currently in first place to receive the Golden Boot for the season. Netting more goals today will add to her two-goal cushion, that is of course if Bunny Shaw doesn’t score herself in the Manchester derby later this evening.
As the whistle blew for kick-off, Villa got off to a disappointing start and were quite slow to get going. Their passes were quite sloppy, the defence for the first time seemed quite weak overall it seemed as though something was off. Liverpool however, were on the attack from the off and stretched our defence straight away. The determination of the home side, however, didn’t let this slow start stop them as Kirsty Hanson evaded the challenges of three defenders to open her account for the evening within the first 10 minutes. Things were now starting to slot into place for the home side and their confidence was building again.
The Reds were not happy with their defence having been beaten and it was clear to see they were hungry for their own goal. They proceeded to dominate for the remainder of the first half with Hannah Hampton more or less single-handedly keeping the scoreline to 1-0 after saving successive shots from Natasha Dowie and Missy Bo Kearns. Both teams proved to be dangerous on the counter-attack; with Rachel Daly being denied at the opposite end of the pitch by a last-ditch clearance by Jasmine Matthews.
It was clear this was going to be a game that would push the fitness levels of both sides, as both teams clearly wanted to walk away from this with all three points. Liverpool interestingly being one of only two teams who haven’t won any points away from home this season. This clearly wasn’t on their minds, however, as the Reds luck was about to change. As the Finnish international Emma Koivisto crossed a delightful ball into the box, which fell to the feet of Taylor Hinds whose miscued strike luckily found the head of Katie Stengel. Finally, Hannah Hampton was beaten and after 30 minutes, the playing field was level again.
It was almost as if Liverpool had a renewed sense of energy, knowing this game was not out of their reach. It may have had something to do with the phenomenal travelling support who did not stop singing (I was in the midst of them and the men in particular behind me were very impressive) all of the way through the match. A small part of home for the Reds in a crowd of over 7500 spectators at Villa Park.
Three minutes later, Koivisto and Hinds teamed up again which saw Natasha Dowie being able to fire home the leading goal into the back of the net. The score now sat at 1-2 to the visitors. As we’ve seen this season, Villa have favoured playing out from the back, keeping the ball in defence until we’ve created our opportunities which has worked the majority of the time. However, watching the Red’s strategy, they prefer to get the ball straight into their midfield and drive forward which has allowed their players to double up on our key players, pushing the likes of Rach Daly and Kenza Dali out of the game. They’ve also been very astute at finding where our gaps are in our midfield and defensive line and have made sure to exploit them.
Even though they were a goal behind, Villa’s energy spiked again with the crowd growing louder when Rachel Daly and Kirsty Hanson drove forward into the opposition’s half. On the strike of half-time, Simone Magill (making her home debut after returning from injury, on for Jordan Nobbs who had what looked to be a calf injury herself in the 32nd minute) struck an excellent cut-back on the edge of the box that was delivered home by none other than Rachel Daly. Her 21st goal of the campaign and moving her ever closer to this year’s Golden Boot. As the whistle blew for the first half, the score line stood at a tight 2-2.
Although the points were currently being shared, it was clear both teams wanted to take the three points home and it almost looked as though Liverpool might take the victory during this second half.
Matt Beard made a fantastic half-time change with the Dutch international Shanice van de Sanden coming on for Niamh Fahey. An instant impact sub, van de Sanden drove down the wing to deliver a pitch-perfect cross into the box for Katie Stengel who merely glanced the ball in at the near post. It was now 2-3 to the visitors. Did Villa have any more in the tank to make it 3-3?
Liverpool up until this point we have to say, were completely dominant and were punishing Villa for their sloppy play. The home side were not being as clinical as we know they can be and it was currently costing us our home advantage. Taking a step back, it looked as though there were some issues with communication in midfield, players again occupying the same space instead of marking closely. Allowing the Red forwards to clear our defence easier than it should have been. This could possibly be due to injuries (again) and forced Villa squad rotation (for example, Remi Allen, returning captain, came on for more minutes than planned during her phased return from injury, for Kenza Dali who also looked to have an issue with her calf).
However, on that note, special shoutout to Dan Turner and Remi Allen who did not stop running or challenging for the ball throughout their time on the pitch. What a fantastic last home game for Remi, who announced earlier this week her contract had not been extended for Villa and she’d be leaving at the end of the season. A brilliant match for her final farewell.
At around the 70th minute, the home side seemed to gain a new lease of life. Something had clicked. It seemed like maybe, there was an equaliser, at least, to come in this game, a sense of something magical made its way through Villa Park.
After Liverpool’s third goal, Villa were quick on the counter and it was Rachel Daly who was yet again denied as her header hit the crossbar and a second goal-bound shot was also saved minutes later. Villa were turning up the pressure and as they entered the last 30 minutes of the game, the home side knew they needed to take their chances and it felt like a goal was coming. It had to.
Enter Player of the Match Kirsty Hanson, the Manchester United loanee who we really wish we could keep, danced her way through the Liverpool defence to slip her second goal of the match through the gloves of keeper Kirby in the 70th minute to the delight of the home fans in the stadium. As shouts of ‘Kirsty Hanson, she’s one of our own,’ echoed around the stadium.
With 20 minutes remaining, it was all to play for and the challenges were starting to get a bit dirtier (yellow card Lucy Staniforth) as you could see both teams with their heads down vying for that winning goal.
My heart was in my mouth during the last minutes of stoppage time, as the Liverpool fans behind me said, ‘Everton got a late 91st-minute winner in their game you know’ and as it hit the 91st-minute mark and Liverpool got a corner. The dreaded thought entered my mind that it could all be lost.
Thankfully it ended as a six-goal thriller that honestly seemed to be the fairest ending to a dramatic Sunday in Birmingham.
Although Villa did look slightly panicky at times and didn’t play their best or ‘prettiest’ football. It was their determination and ‘togetherness’, as Carla Ward perfectly put it in her post-match interview, that definitely helped Villa succeed today and take a well-earned point.
In other Aston Villa Women news, Rachel Daly has entered the history books.