Everton Women boss Brian Sorensen believes his side can take plenty of positives from their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City and use the performance as a springboard for this weekend’s Merseyside derby.
The Blues were edged out by their visitors in Wednesday night’s contest at Walton Hall Park, with former Everton winger Jess Park returning to haunt her old club. The England international opened the scoring for City, turning home Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s excellent delivery into the box.
And Shaw got on the scoresheet herself in the second half, pouncing on a loose pass from Megan Finnigan and emphatically drilling the ball into the roof of the net. The Blues did manage to pull one back in stoppage time, with substitute Toni Duggan stooping to turn home Heather Payne’s excellent delivery.
Duggan’s goal proved to be little more than a consolation for Sorensen’s side, who have now lost their opening three games of the season. However, the Everton boss was left largely satisfied with the performance against City and is confident results will come for his side.
“I’m happy with the performance and the energy we put into it and so on,” the Dane told the ECHO after the game. “This game was about managing the minutes. We’re struggling a bit with injuries at the moment so we have to get everybody through it and then still try and see if we can get a result.
“Overall, the performance was good. We didn’t get the result so I’m disappointed with that. We actually could have done something at the end but that City side is still really, really good. There’s some good stuff we can build on going into the game on Sunday.”
Reflecting on his desire to continue playing a dynamic, front-footed style of football, Sorensen added: “We just have to be better at it. If we want to put ourselves aside from the other teams we need to find our own identity and we need to be good at the way we play football.
“Our team is not built to send it up with long balls and be afraid of playing. It’s about balance. Megan (Finnigan) has been outstanding and then she makes a mistake but that will come because of the way we play sometimes. That will happen. (Mistakes) are annoying but it’s part of the growth also.”
The Blues will have to rally quickly if they are to get back to winning ways in this weekend’s Merseyside derby. Everton will travel to Anfield where Liverpool will be hoping to continue their flying start to the season.
The Reds have won their opening two WSL games. However, they will be wary of a repeat of last season, when Everton secured an emphatic victory in front of more than 27,000 fans. “Hopefully we’ll get a couple back for the weekend and then we’ll have more options,” Sorensen said.
“I think the performance today was good. City are one of the best pressing teams in the league but we still managed to play through them. I said to the girls, if we lose it’s on me. I ask you to do it and it’s about trying and seeing how we can be better.”
