City Too Strong For Forest

Football Nottingham Forest info@nottinghamsport.com January 30, 2022

Nottingham Forest Women 0-8 Manchester City Women (Women’s FA Cup Round Four) 29.01.22

Granted it was all about the experience, of playing a top quality side, at home, in the FA Cup, but it wasn’t quite the result Andy Cook’s Nottingham Forest Women would have wanted, taking an 8-0 beating at the hands of the record-breaking Georgia Stanway, and Manchester City Women.

Three in the first half, and five, second half goals from the visitors would be what put Forest to the sword, a near 4,000 crowd turning out for the game, one which saw the visitors play stars like Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood, Caroline Weir and Lauren Hemp, as well as second half substitute, Stanway, who bagged herself a hat-trick to take her place as City’s all-time, leading goal-scorer.

The match itself, that was but a matter of minutes old when the visitors took the lead, Caroline Weir getting on the end of a cutback from Lauren Hemp to register at Emily Batty’s near-post, after which, it was pretty much a rear-guard, damage limitation job for the Reds.

Immediately prior to the visitors’ second of the game, the hosts had an appeal for a penalty waved away when Becky Anderson is seen to go down in the area, however, it’s waved away.

Forest did manage to hold the Women’s Super League side for another half hour before the second goal arrived when Khadija Shaw headed home a corner from Filippa Angeldahl before she added the third, being sent clear and beating the offside trap after a through ball from Alex Greenwood, the Swedish international finishing in Batty’s bottom corner.

Three-up at the break, the visitors turned on the style after the restart, and the introduction of Stanway, she replacing Greenwood, was a good call from the City boss, and it was she who added number four just five minutes in, well, after Charlotte Greengrass had found a sight of goal, she racing into the visitors box, but her low cross comes to nothing.

That goal from Stanway would equal the scoring record for City, firing home from a really tight angle, whilst minutes later, and the hosts now floundering, Lauren Hemp would add number five following a mazy run before firing home.

A number of changes, for both sides, followed, the Forest boss bringing on Jade Arber, Rosie Axten, Mai Moncaster and Grace Walters, whilst the visitors would send on Jemima Dahou and Ginny Lackey, both making their debuts, and the latter, at just 16-years-old.

Becky Anderson would release Hayley James just after the hour mark, her cross however is punched clear by Ellie Roebuck in the City goal.

Shaw would add her second, and City’s sixth, with a little over twenty remaining. Capitalising on a defensive error and smashing the ball home, whilst minutes later it was to be seven, Stanway doubling up, and with it, the record, finishing from close range for her 63^rd goal for the club (surpassing that of Nikita Parris).

Stanway would then complete her hat-trick, and the rout, in stoppage time, cutting inside and firing home the visitors eighth of the game, a one that would, result-wise, be hard to take for the battling Reds.

The Reds though, they’ll now dust themselves off, lick their wounds, and come back out fighting in time for their next match, which, league-wise, will be AFC Fylde, away, on Sunday 13 February.

Nottingham Forest: Emily Batty, Lyndsey Harkin, Georgia Hewitt, Rachel Brown (Mai Moncaster 74), Olivia Cook, Charlotte Steggles (Alice Higginbottom 88), Amy West, Becky Anderson, Hayley James (Grace Walters 74), Charlotte Greengrass (Jade Arber, 59), Naomi Powell (Rosie Axten 59) unused: Aja Aguirre, Niamh Reynolds, Katie Middleton, Sophia Bonser.

Manchester City: Ellie Roebuck, Lucy Bronze, Ruby Mace, Alex Greenwood (Georgia Stanway 46), Demi Stokes, Laura Coombs, Filippa Angeldahl, Caroline Weir (Jemima Dahou 75), Janine Beckie, Lauren Hemp (Jess Park 60), Khadija Shaw (Ginny Lackey 75) unused: Khiara Keating, Vicky Losada.

Venue: City Ground (3,994)