In front of a record women’s crowd of 27,574 at Anfield, Liverpool suffered a 3-0 loss to Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Sunday night.
Liverpool Women 0-3 Everton Women
Women’s Super League (2), AnfieldSeptember 25, 2022
Goals
Finnigan 9′ Park 33′ Bennison 87′
There was a great atmosphere on the pitch before kick-off with many youngsters in attendance as part of a record crowd of 27,574 for a women’s match at Anfield.
However, after an opening day victory against champions Chelsea, Liverpool fell back to earth after 10 minutes when Megan Finnigan directed a well-placed header past goalkeeper Rachel Laws.
Liverpool’s first chance came midway through the first half and it was a golden one for Katie Stengel, who created and squandered the chance after bringing down Rikke Sevecke at the Everton half. However, the American, who was the match winner in last week’s opening day victory over reigning champions Chelsea, took too long to fire.
Soon after, Jess Park quietly doubled the visitors’ lead. The Manchester City loaner ran for a long ball over the top that evaded Jasmine Matthews, before cutting to the left of her and setting Matthews up to pass the goalkeeper.
Another brilliant opportunity came Liverpool’s way when Everton failed to clear their lines from a corner, giving Ceri Holland time to pick her spot with a lateral effort. Unfortunately for the Welsh midfielder, his shot went wide of Courtney Brosnan’s left post.
Halftime: Liverpool Women 0-2 Everton Women
The second half began quietly on the pitch, but not in the stands, where fans did their own entertainment, lighting torches on their phones like at a concert as they sang louder than is normally heard at Anfield.
The red stars in the middle raised their game in response with Taylor Hinds and Holland dribbling quality into the Everton box.
However, neither side created clear chances until well into the second period, with the back fives, which both teams transitioned out of possession, working effectively to deny possession around the penalty areas.
Liverpool came close with five minutes remaining when Rikke Sevecke headed a floated cross past goalkeeper Brosnan, who misjudged the rebound but managed to get back to her goal line in time to clean up the mess.
The pressure from the Reds began to build, but Everton struck on the counterattack after Megan Campbell was caught in possession of her own half. Jess Park latched onto the fumble and used his vision to find Hanna Bennison. The substitute showed good composure to sidestep past Laws into the bottom corner for 3-0.
The night did not go as Liverpool expected with a wide defeat for Matt Beard’s team. And Everton’s clean sheet meant that Liverpool Women have now failed to score in each of their three appearances at Anfield.
It won’t get any easier for the Reds, who face Arsenal and Man City before the end of October.
TIA Player of the Match: Yana Daniels
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Attendance: 27,574
Liverpool Women: Laws, Koivisto (Roberts 72′), Hinds, Flaherty, Matthews (Daniels 56′), Kearns (Furness 46′), Fahey, Stengel, Campbell, Holland, Lawley (Wardlaw 72′)
Unused Subs: Cumings, Kirby, Robe, Humphrey, Silcock
Everton Women: Brosnan, Veje, Bjorn, Sevecke, George, Christiansen (Bennison 63′), Graham, Galli, Snoeijs (Quieroz (63′), Finnigan, Park (Stenevik 90′)
Unused Subs: Ramsey, Maier, Weir, Holmgaard
Next match: Sunderland Ladies (A) – Sunday 2nd October, 11:30am
