Grace Clinton says Manchester City debut “felt good” | OneFootball

Grace Clinton (Manchester City)

Grace Clinton made her bow for Manchester City on Friday, appearing as a second-half substitute against Tottenham Hotspur, and scoring an 80th-minute goal en route to a 5-1 Women’s Super League win.

It was no wonder that she declared on social media that her debut “felt good”.

Goals from Aoba Fujino, Vivianne Miedema and Kerstin Casparij had already put City well ahead in London before Clinton added hers. Olivia Holdt got one back for Spurs before Laura Coombs restored the four-goal advantage in stoppage time.

“I can see myself now already analysing what I would’ve done differently in the game, passes I would’ve made,” she said in quotes reported by City’s official website.

“Playing with these girls will make me so much better.

“Kerolin challenges me on what passes and forward passes I’m going to make but her movement is incredible.

“The depth of the squad is just amazing and I’m excited to start properly.”

Grace Clinton: I loved my time at Spurs

Clinton – who signed for City on transfer deadline day, making the cross-Manchester move from United – spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Tottenham, meaning that making her debut for her new club against them was always going to be a special occasion.

Her first appearance had been delayed while she worked towards full fitness.

“It feels amazing. It takes the pressure off a little bit now, now I can get flowing into the season.

“The main thing for me was getting onto the pitch, making those connections with the girls and getting stuck in. It was nice.

“I loved my time at Spurs, and I’ve loved seeing some familiar faces.

“That is where I really developed as a young player and gave me so much confidence, so it was lovely to see them all.”

Andree Jeglertz: I’m happy for Grace Clinton

City head coach Andree Jeglertz had plenty of praise for Clinton as well, saying: “I’m so happy for her because she has been working very good since she’s been with the team and she deserved to get minutes today and how she did also.

“She wanted to be on the ball, she’s playing with a lot of confidence so I’m happy for her.”

Tottenham manager Martin Ho – who had said prior to the match that his side had to be wary of City’s attacking threat – said to his club website: ““We had good moments, but too many off moments where we were hesitant. When we did press, we caused them problems, but against top teams, you can’t switch off like that… they’ll punish you.”