Gareth Taylor pinpoints England star’s performance as “spark” in record Man City WSL win

Manchester City went into December’s Women’s Super League international break back on top form after a seven-goal thrashing of in-form Tottenham at the Joie Stadium

Gareth Taylor has led his Man City team to back-to-back wins ahead of the international break

Gareth Taylor said England star Lauren Hemp was the “spark” in Manchester City’s record win over Tottenham.

Forward Hemp was on the scoresheet as City equalled their record margin of victory in a WSL game, with a 7-0 thrashing of in-form Spurs, who had arrived in Manchester unbeaten since the opening day. Taylor’s team were at their ruthless best with Bunny Shaw getting a hat-trick, Lauren Coombs scoring twice and Jill Roord on target in a huge victory.

Following up from last weekend’s derby win over Manchester United, where Hemp also netted, City are now back inside the top three after their season hit a bump in the road with back-to-back defeats. Hemp will face a tough battle for a starting spot when on international duty with England next week, with both Lauren James and Beth Mead returning to the Lionesses squad following injury.

But her club manager Taylor believes she is hitting her best form of the season so far. “I think Lauren (Hemp) is someone who needs a challenge,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “She needs to feel confident. She has set such high standards over the last few games, I’ve really noticed a difference in her in terms of getting after games.

“At United last week she was immense. It’s difficult to single out players after a win like that. But I actually felt that we started the game a little bit flat and that Lauren was the spark, and that if we could get the ball to her we’d get our confidence.

“When Lauren opens her shoulders up towards goal, she is just so hard to play against. She is such a threat and causes so many problems to teams. And she’s got that final quality that makes a real difference.”

Despite two impressive results in recent weeks, City are still six points behind Chelsea at the top of the table. The WSL holders continued their unbeaten start on Sunday with a 5-2 win over Leicester.

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Considering no team has ever won the Super League losing more than two games, City may well need to go unbeaten over their remaining 14 matches to have a hope of winning a first league title since 2016. With Arsenal also picking up a win against West Ham, Taylor believes his side’s win over Spurs will be a psychological boost going forward.

“That was an important win and the way the results have gone today,” Taylor added. “It’s never nice to play the last game of the weekend. We knew the pressure was on us to go out and win and be in there still.

“We still have a lot of work to do, we made a good start to the season and then we’ve played well in the games we lost against Arsenal and Brighton which is a bit frustrating, but the signs are good.

Lauren Hemp is one of the form players in the WSL

“The pressure to stay up there and in touch is high but the players have no fear, and we try to push the other teams ahead of us. Chelsea have made a really fast start, 22 points out of 24 is very impressive.”

With players now signing off for the third international break in the last three months, Taylor also gave his views on the current issues around scheduling in the women’s game. Top level internationals had very little rest post-World Cup before the start of the domestic season and the City boss says player workload will be a key area of focus for him and his staff in the coming weeks.

“There are high demands on the players,” added Taylor. “It’s something that perhaps needs looking at. Those demands are so, so tough, particularly in close season with a tournament every summer.

“Ownership from the players is the most important thing. They want to play for their country which is natural, but they also want to play every game for their club. Sometimes you have to take the decision away from them.”

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