‘The result doesn’t reflect the game’ – London City Lionesses were ready to compete says Prêcheur | OneFootball

London City Lionesses head coach Jocelyn Prêcheur said that the 4-1 defeat to Manchester City didn’t reflect his team’s overall performance.

The Pride went down to The Cityzens at The Joie Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Early goals from Vivianne Miedema and Laura Blindkilde Brown gave Manchester City a clear advantage before Nikita Parris pulled one back for London City Lionesses. Prêcheur’s side then conceded two second half penalties which Khadija Shaw successfully converted.

When speaking to the media after the match, London City Lionesses boss Prêcheur felt that his side were better than the heavy scoreline suggested.

“I congratulate Man City for their game and their performance which is, of course, not surprising for them,” Prêcheur said. “On the other side, I really think that the result doesn’t reflect the game today. I’m not saying that we deserved a point or something, but we were ready to compete with them and not only for 15 minutes.

“Some decisions changed [the game] again in my opinion and they really didn’t help, but this is something that we also need to focus on because we have conceded too many penalties. Four penalties in three games, it’s too much.”

London City Lionesses have faced Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City in their opening top flight games and Prêcheur admits that there is a huge gap between his newly-promoted side and the established teams in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

He said “We knew this month [would be difficult]. 
It’s already challenging to come from WSL2 to WSL in terms of adapting to the rhythm, the speed, the intensity, which is completely different, but it’s even worse when you play the top four.

“The gap is huge and we are not there. 
We knew this gap existed and now, it’s about really improving game-by-game, building this team to reduce this gap as much as possible. The road will be long, the job is tough, but this is our ambition. We cannot be so arrogant to think that we can reduce this gap fully in just four weeks, it doesn’t work like that. We just need to keep going.

“I’m satisfied about the evolution of the team in just four weeks, but frustrated about the result.”

One London City Lionesses player who is no stranger to Barclays Women’s Super League football is Nikita Parris. After netting for The Pride in the North West, Prêcheur had a lot to say about his summer addition.

He said “If you want to compete in this league, you need some leaders and Nikita is one of them. 
She’s important on the bench as a player and she’s also important on the pitch, off the pitch in the changing room; to give and share out experience to everyone. She shares her experience and she shows very good leadership. She also increases her performance game-by-game and she’s a kind of player who can change a game. She is very important for us.”

London City Lionesses return to action on Sunday afternoon when they play host to Liverpool.