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Ruesha Littlejohn fired London City Lionesses to a memorable 1-0 win over league-leading Sunderland A.F.C. on Sunday [17 March], maintaining the Pride’s three-point cushion above the relegation zone.
Remi Allen made one alteration to the team that overcame Reading earlier this month, with Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah replacing Nicole Douglas in the starting eleven.
London City started on the front foot and never slowed down, with lightning-fast Paige Satchell wreaking havoc in the opening exchanges.
The Pride’s pressure told in the 25th minute when Danielle Carter found a pocket of space and played a perfectly-weighted pass to Littlejohn.
The Republic of Ireland international made no mistake from the top of the penalty area, arcing the ball into the top corner of Claudia Moan’s net.
Paige Culver, Lois Joel, and Boye-Hlorkah went closest to doubling London City’s advantage in the second half, with Jessica Brown forcing Grace Moloney into a game-defining save in the 80th minute.
“We knew it was going to be a battle today, they’re top of the league for a reason, but we were coming off the back of a really positive performance and have been working hard over the last two weeks with Remi on implementing how we want to play and I think you could see that today,” defender Megan Campbell told londoncitylionesses.com.
“It was a bit ugly in the second half because Sunderland were pushing for the goal, but I think our experience shined through. It’s a really good performance overall and we’re thrilled with the points.”
Allen added: “I’m really proud, I think we played some nice football in the first half and had opportunities to hurt them. The second half became a bit of a scrap, which you expect when you’re playing against a team [flying high] like Sunderland.
“I think we matched them and some, creating enough chances in the second half to have made the game more comfortable. Overall, I’m really proud of how the team played.”
The Pride return to Princes Park on Sunday 31 March, hosting Sheffield United in the Barclays Women’s Championship. We’re on a roll, join us.