London City Lionesses 2-1 Manchester United | OneFootball

Anne Butzelaar, Women's Football Editor

London City Lionesses made an immediate statement on the opening weekend of the Women’s Super League season, securing an impressive 2-1 victory over Manchester United in Bromley as Alexia Putellas made her competitive debut for the club.

Much of the attention heading into the fixture had understandably surrounded London City’s ambitious summer recruitment. Eder Maestre’s side entered the new campaign with significant expectations following the arrival of several high-profile players, but their opening performance showed there is considerably more to this team than the names brought through the door.

London City started brightly and quickly established control, looking confident in possession while making it incredibly difficult for United to find any rhythm of their own.

The hosts were rewarded when Alanna Kennedy’s header was diverted into the United net by Julia Zigiotti Olme, whose own goal handed London City an early and deserved advantage.

Rather than dropping deeper after taking the lead, Maestre’s side continued to push forward.

Delphine Cascarino regularly caused problems and came close to extending the advantage, while Jayde Riviere was forced into a goal-line clearance to keep United within touching distance.

At the other end, there was very little for London City to worry about.

United failed to register a single shot during the opening 45 minutes as the hosts’ energetic press prevented Eva Olid’s side from establishing any meaningful control. The visitors struggled to progress the ball through midfield and were regularly forced backwards when attempting to play out.

It made for a difficult opening half of Olid’s first Women’s Super League match in charge.

United returned for the second half with considerably more intent and gradually began to pose a greater threat, but London City remained composed.

While the visitors enjoyed more possession and began finding their way into more promising areas, the hosts continued to look dangerous whenever opportunities presented themselves.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, London City finally found the second goal their performance had warranted.

Daniëlle van de Donk provided it in style, producing a superb flick to find the back of the net and give Maestre’s side some much-needed breathing room heading into the closing stages.

United eventually found a response through Simi Awujo, who struck in stoppage time to reduce the deficit. However, her goal arrived too late to inspire a comeback as London City saw out the remaining minutes to secure all three points.

There was, unsurprisingly, plenty of attention on Putellas throughout the evening. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner, who was named London City captain earlier this week, received a warm reception before making her competitive debut for the club. It was a relatively quiet first appearance by the Spaniard’s exceptionally high standards, but there were still glimpses of the technical quality and composure that have defined her career.

Putellas was far from the only summer arrival to make an impression.

With so many new players arriving over the summer, one of the biggest questions heading into the opening weekend surrounded how quickly Maestre would be able to bring everything together.

The early signs were certainly encouraging.

London City looked organised, energetic and confident throughout much of the contest. Their pressing caused United significant problems, while their ability to create danger from set-piece situations exposed an area that has troubled the visitors previously.

The only major concern from an otherwise hugely positive evening came in the second half, when Lucia Corrales was forced off with what appeared to be a serious injury. She later confirmed it was her ribs.

For United, meanwhile, their opening performance raised considerably more questions than answers.

Olid has spoken about wanting her team to play attacking football, but there was little evidence of that during a particularly disappointing first half.

There was a clear improvement after the interval and Awujo’s late strike at least ensured United left Bromley on the scoresheet, but the visitors had already given themselves far too much work to do.

It is important not to draw definitive conclusions from the opening match of a new season, particularly with a new manager attempting to implement her ideas.

However, following an underwhelming summer transfer window, concerns already existed over whether United had strengthened sufficiently to keep pace with their rivals and compete for Champions League qualification.

Their opening performance did little to ease those concerns.

For London City, however, it was an almost perfect start.

Their summer recruitment created considerable excitement and expectation heading into the new campaign. Against United, they provided the first indication that the hype surrounding them may well be justified.