London City Lionesses Women 4-2 Palace Women: Isobel Goodwin hat-trick sinks spirited Palace
Palace Women came away from the RELOC8 EM Community Stadium empty-handed on Wednesday night, beaten 4-2 by a London City Lionesses side inspired by a first-half hat-trick hero in Isobel Goodwin as the WSL Players Cup League Phase continued.
The hosts made the breakthrough right on the stroke of half-time when Goodwin turned home the opener in the 44th minute, giving Palace a mountain to climb after the break. That mountain only got steeper early in the second half as Goodwin struck again on 59 minutes to make it 2-0, before completing her treble with a third on 74 minutes to put London City seemingly out of sight at 3-0.
Palace showed real fight in the closing stages though. Substitute Annabel Blanchard, who had only just been introduced, pulled one back for the visitors in the 82nd minute to give the travelling contingent some hope. London City responded almost immediately, with another substitute in Freya Godfrey restoring the three-goal cushion just two minutes later on 84 minutes. Shannon O'Brien then added a stoppage-time consolation for Palace in the second minute of added time, with the final whistle confirming a 4-2 scoreline.
There was a flurry of cards in the first half, with London City's Rosa Kafaji booked on 20 minutes before Mary Earps and Palace's Shannon O'Brien were both shown yellow cards deep into first-half stoppage time. Palace made wholesale changes throughout the second half, bringing on Abbie Larkin, Hayley Ladd, Annabel Blanchard, Allyson Swaby and Molly Bartrip as they searched for a way back into the contest, while London City also freshened things up with a host of substitutions of their own.
The result leaves Palace with two wins from four games in the competition, a tally that includes defeats in their last two outings in the Women's League Cup: WWLL. London City, by contrast, continued their fine recent run with a third straight win in the competition, their last three reading WWW, and the victory keeps them firmly in the hunt near the top of Group A.
For Palace, sitting 13th in the Women's Super League, this was a chance to pick up momentum heading into the busy winter schedule, but instead they'll have to regroup after a difficult night against a London City side packed with experienced quality, including the likes of Mary Earps and Nikita Parris in the starting line-up. The goals from Blanchard and O'Brien offer a crumb of comfort and show there is fight in this Palace squad, but conceding four against a well-drilled Lionesses outfit will be a concern as they look ahead to their next fixture.
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