City seal League Cup penalty shootout win over Newcastle | OneFootball

Manchester City beat Newcastle 7-6 on penalties to earn an extra point after our League Cup Group A encounter had ended 3-3 in normal time.

Former City defender Demi Stokes saw her spot kick saved by Khiara Keating, allowing Laura Blindkilde Brown to sweep home the winner and ensure we travelled back to Manchester with two points.

Lois Joel gave our WSL 2 hosts an early lead with an impressive long-range strike, but Laura Coombs replied on the stroke of half-time.

Yui Hasegawa and Gracie Prior then gave City a two-goal lead but goals from Freya Gregory and, deep into stoppage time, Shania Hayles forced a shootout.

What Happened

City were searching for a seventh win in a row in all competitions but Newcastle, buoyed by successive late equalisers in their previous two matches, came looking to cause an upset.

And the hosts were quick out the blocks, with Khiara Keating tipping a Jordan Nobbs effort around the post before the 10-minute mark.

Newcastle took the lead soon after through a stunning long-range effort from Joel after stealing possession back around 25 yards from the City goal.

It was a tough opening 45 for the Blues, with a Leila Ouahabi slicing a volley wide with the goal gaping after an excellent team move on the counter attack as half-time approached.

City were starting to create some clearcut chances, with the lively Aoba Fujino striking the woodwork after a typically incisive run into the Newcastle box.

The pressure finally told with virtually the last kick of the half, though, as Coombs confidently slotted home Iman Beney’s cutback to draw us level.

And the Blues turned the game on its head inside three minutes of the restart when Hasegawa’s run in behind was picked out by Beney, allowing the Japan international to rifle into the roof of the net.

Newcastle continued to battle, but a third would follow from a corner, as Claudia Moan’s punch looped into the air, allowing Prior to bundle the ball over the line through a crowd of bodies.

The hosts did set up a nervy final ten minutes though as the rain began to lash down in Gateshead, as Gregory fired a vicious effort in off the far post.

And despite Hasegawa seemingly being fouled in the build-up, Hayles' deflected effort deep into stoppage time earned our WSL 2 opponents a share of the spoils.

But a further point was still up for grabs and, after both sides had scored their first six penalties, Stokes saw hers saved by Keating and thus give Blindkilde Brown the chance to fire home the winner.

Beney’s brilliance

She’d scored in our previous two matches against Arsenal and Liverpool, but teenage terror Iman Beney turned provider in our League Cup win before the international break.

Her tenacity created the opening for Coombs’ equaliser as she managed to wriggle free of Demi Stokes’ attentions down the right.

And she’d repeat the trick early in the second half with a clever reverse ball through a crowd of bodies finding Hasegawa for number two.

The 19-year-old continues to go from strength to strength in a City shirt.

Permutations

Not the result or performance City were after but, crucially, qualification for the League Cup knockout stages is in our hands heading into the final round of matches.

The Blues need to avoid defeat against Nottingham Forest to guarantee top spot in Group A, with the Reds one point behind us.

Despite picking up a shootout win, Everton are out as one of City or Forest will pick up points in our clash at Field Mill.

What it means

Our shootout win at Newcastle means we move on to five points in the League Cup this season.

We sit top of Group A after Everton and Nottingham Forest played out a 1-1 draw, before the Toffees earned the extra point.

It means we're one point clear of Forest ahead of our tie in November.

How we lined up

CITY XI: Keating, Layzell (Casparij 75’), Prior, Rose (Greenwood 64’), Beney, Lohmann (Blindkilde Brown 64’), Hasegawa, Ouahabi, Fujino (Miedema 64’), Coombs (C), Shaw

Subs: Cumings, Wienroither, Thomas, Oldroyd, Burdon

Newcastle XI: Moan, Wardlaw, Stokes (C), Nobbs, Boddy (Hayles 59’), Gregory, Grec, Sevenius (Lumsden 75’), Joel (Cooper 75’), Mannion, Murphy

Subs: Liefting, Cooper, Lumsden, Chapman, Gilbert, Richardson, Baker, Freeman

Up next

City return from the October international break with a Barclays Women’s Super League against West Ham United on Saturday 1 November.

Kick-off at the Joie Stadium is set for 12:00 (UK) as we look to extend our winning run in the league to six.

Tickets are still available to purchase by clicking here.