City kickstart WSL title defence with hard-fought Birmingham win

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Manchester City Women

·6 September 2026

City kickstart WSL title defence with hard-fought Birmingham win

A Mary Fowler strike and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw brace helped City begin our 2026/27 Barclays Women’s Super League title defence with an impressive 3-1 win against Birmingham City.

Two goals inside the first 10 minutes of the second half gave the Blues perfect boost to grasp full control of the game, with Fowler’s low finish our 1,000th as a professional outfit.

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Shaw - last season’s WSL Golden Boot winner - picked up where she left off by glancing home Kerstin Caspaij’s corner soon after, with the Jamaican repeating the trick late on when she met Beth Mead’s set piece inside the final five minutes.

A late consolation from Oceane Hurtre on the brink of full-time denied us a clean sheet, but it’ll do little to dampen a bright City display in our WSL curtain raiser.

WHAT HAPPENED

The typical wet Manchester weather subsided at the perfect time as City entered the field to a grand spectacle - including both our WSL and FA Cup trophies, fireworks and a stunning Tifo at the Joie Stadium.

But in the opening minutes, Andrée Jeglertz’s team had to endure a brief Birmingham storm, with Hurtre firing wide from a tight angle after a mix-up in the City defence.

City rallied though after that early scare, with Shaw twice forcing Sophie Baggaley into smart saves after being set up by Hemp down the left.

Alex Greenwood and Aoba Fujino also went close as the Blues pressed for an opening, before a timely block from Neve Herron denied Shaw from close-range.

There were plenty of positive signs for City heading into the second 45 though, and we earned our reward inside five minutes of the restart.

Fowler found space near the right corner of the Birmingham box and showed great composure to keep her shot low as she fired it into the back of the opposition’s net for the Club’s 1,000th goal in our history.

City finished our title-winning campaign with more than double the amount of goals from set pieces than any other side, and we once again showcased our danger from dead ball situations soon after.

The first came from a deep Casparij corner which was met by Shaw, and the Jamaican rose highest to glance home into the far corner to make it two before the hour mark.

Shaw’s second and our third of the afternoon was perhaps the pick of the bunch though.

Once again it came from a corner, this time when she guided a beautiful header past Baggaley from Beth Mead’s cross - the City debutant adding to her tally as the WSL’s all-time assister in the process.

Hurtre pulled one back for the visitors late on after Jade Rose had her pocket picked, but it won’t stop City from relishing an opening weekend win in front of a home crowd.

FIERCE FOWLER

Sometimes the first goal isn’t just important for giving a team the lead, but it can also be the perfect platform to build on both on the pitch and mentally.

And Fowler’s clinical shot that fired City in front on 49 minutes provided the ideal confidence boost.

The Australia international really does look to be back at her best following her return from an ACL injury and feels like it will be just the beginning for the 23-year-old this term.

Jeglertz had suggested she could give City an X-Factor in his pre-match press conference, and the Swede was proven right.

UP AND RUNNING

City’s title defence has got off to the perfect start.

It’s a long old season, but we’ve got three points on the board on the opening weekend, which gives us a strong base to build from.

Birmingham came to the Joie Stadium full of confidence and will likely cause many teams problems this season, but the Blues did well to nullify their threat and then push them back.

A professional performance from City, which sets us up nicely for a busy September.

HOW WE LINED UP

City XI | Yamashita, Casparij (Beney 61’), Rose, Prior, Greenwood (C) (Wamser 74’), Blindkilde Brown (Coffey 74’), Hasegawa, Fujino, Fowler (Mead 61’), Hemp, Shaw.

Subs | Cumings, Wienroither, Davies, Beckinsale, Davis

Birmingham XI | Baggaley, Levasseur, Lee Geum-Min (Amano 84’), Naalsund (Miyagawa 46’), Leidhammar (Cornet 57’), Crosthwaite, McKenna, Turner (C), Hurtre, Sarri (Effa Effa 72’), Herron

Subs | Thomas, Startup, Harris, Cooke, Holloway.

WHAT IT MEANS

Alongside Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, London City Lionesses, Arsenal and Crystal Palace, City have begun the 2026/27 season with a winning performance and sit third in the table on goal difference.