‘The girls did everything they could’ – Sørensen reflects on Everton’s League Cup shootout victory | OneFootball

Everton manager Brian Sørensen said that his side gave everything as they defeated Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalty kicks at Goodison Park in the Subway Women’s League Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Aimee Claypole converted a penalty for Nottingham Forest early in the second half before Kelly Gago soon equalised for Everton. After a 1-1 draw in normal time, The Toffees held their nerve to win the resulting penalty shootout 4-3.

When speaking to the media after the match, Everton boss Sørensen said that it could have been a different game if his side had taken their chances but he couldn’t fault their effort.

“We should have had our chances in the first half,” Sørensen said. “I think then the game picture would probably have been a bit different. They get a penalty and then we have to fight to get back and we did that okay in the second half without maybe creating the same clear-cut, big chances that we created in the first [half]. We tried everything at the end.

“I think the girls did everything that they could put into the game. It is a bit tough at the minute with the availability of players with so many out. Credit to the ones who were there and did everything they could. Emily [Ramsey] was superb.”

Everton have been without number one goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan since September after she injured her Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) during a clash with London City Lionesses. Sørensen has been pleased with the form of stand-in keeper Emily Ramsey as she has overcome her own injury woes.

He said “She needed game time to build-up that confidence and she’s getting that in abundance now. We know Emily’s a great keeper, but she’s been out for almost one-and-a-half years on and off, so she hasn’t had any consistency. She has that now which is good. She’s growing confident and that’s what we need.”

Going on to discuss the injury situation further, Sørensen explained that the game’s scheduling allowed him to field a stronger side than one that he may have picked for a midweek cup fixture.

He said “I think the situation that we’re in where we have nine players out, we’re just focusing on the league, of course. Because it was a weekend game, we could put out a stronger team than what we could if it had been a midweek game. We would probably have given some academy and some of the younger players more playing time, so we used this game to still build in terms of who we have available.”

Everton return to action following the international break when they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday 2 November 2025.