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Liverpool Ladies had a chance at redemption on Sunday in Sussex following back to back league losses to Arsenal and Manchester City the last two weeks, and boy did they take that chance. The Reds cruised to a 3-0 victory over Chichester City, ensuring their spot in the quarterfinals of the SSE FA Cup.
The manager of Liverpool Ladies, Scott Rogers, went in with two changes in hopes of freshening up the squad after their consecutive losses. Goalkeeper Emily Ramsey and defender Naomi Hartley both got their debuts for the Reds, with both instrumental in maintaining the clean sheet the ladies walked away with.
Both teams started energetically, but it wasn’t until the 34th minute that the Reds were able to finally capitalize on their many chances of the afternoon. January signing Rinsola Babajide received a superb pass from Caroline Weir and smashed it home for her first goal in her first start.
It wasn’t much longer before Ashley Hodson made it 2-0 to the visitors, sending the ball home from close range, to send the Reds up into halftime. From there on it was smooth sailing, with the Ladies able to maintain their lead comfortably. FA WSL Player of the Month Bethany England added a third three minutes after the restart, pouncing on the rebound from a saved effort by Weir.
The Ladies were honestly unlucky not to add more to the scoresheet in the second half, as Ali Johnson saw a free kick sail just over the bar and Kate Longhurst hit just off target two different times. All in all a 3-0 victory is something to be proud of in a major competition, following losses to the teams seated in the top two spots of the table.
Rogers and the ladies knew traveling to Chichester wouldn’t be easy, despite their opponents being in a lower league. The magic of the FA Cup definitely extends to the women’s league and shouldn’t be taken for granted, after all.
“From our point of view, we need to put a professional performance in and if we can do that and get a bit of luck then I think we are a match for anyone on our day,” said Rogers ahead of the game on Sunday.
”We have seen some highlights of Chichester in action and we have an idea of what they will be like, but at the end of the day it’s all about focusing on us and doing a good job to make sure we are in the draw for the next round come Monday morning.”
They certainly did that and will be waiting to hear their next opponents. As for now, their next league match is against Sunderland Ladies at the Select Security Stadium on Wednesday.