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Sunderland 0, London City Lionesses 1.
- samwraight
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
London City reach the fifth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
Saturday 17th January | Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground
London City booked their place in the fifth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, beating Sunderland at Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground.
Wassa Sangaré’s first goal for London City was the difference between the two sides.
Danïelle Van de Donk made her first appearance for London City, playing the final 18 minutes of the contest.
Ahead of the game, head coach Eder Maestre talked up the significance of the FA Cup and its competitive nature and that proved to be the case early on.
Maestre’s side enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening 45 minutes, winning a number of corners but with clear cut chances few and far between, Izzy Goodwin fashioned a couple of half chances.
The WSL 2 side were organised and defended resolutely.
They carved the best chance of the first period when London City failed to clear a ball in the box and Eleanor Dale’s well-struck volley was well blocked by Jana Fernández.
The visitors came out of the traps at the start of the second half and took the lead soon after courtesy of Sangaré’s fine header from Grace Geyoro’s corner.
With their tails up and with the introduction of experience heads, London City almost doubled their advantage with a fine move, engineered by Freya Godfrey whose flick found Fernández, a cutback to substitute Kosovare Asllani picked out Godfrey whose shot was blocked and Lucia Corrales’ rebound shot was well saved by Sunderland stopper Grace Moloney.
And with five minutes of the regulation 90 remaining, Nikita Parris almost doubled the advantage when she was played in behind, her chip edging just over the bar.
London City retained their shape, were disciplined and saw out the victory in what was a professional afternoon’s work.
Head coach Maestre said: “I’m really pleased with the victory.
“We knew Sunderland would be a tough team to beat. They are very dangerous, attack quickly and I think we coped well.
“The way we managed the game was impressive and the team worked very hard.
“Set pieces were very important and the goal was well worked so we are pleased.
“The next step is how we improve. We were more connected today but our aim is to continue using the spaces that we are creating to punish teams in the final third and have a killer instinct.
“We have a lot of new patterns that we are building. It will take time.
“Winning is so important, it’s a special competition and we are delighted to progress.”
We're in the hat, and the draw for the next round will take place Monday 20th January, on the FA's social channels, TNT Sports Football YouTube and Channel 4 Sport YouTube.
Follow our socials for updates on our Round 5 opponent.
London City return to action on Sunday 25 Janaury where they face Manchester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League at the CopperJax Community Stadium.
Teamsheet: Lete, Fernández, Pattinson (Corrales 58') , Pérez (Kumagai 72'), Godfrey (Van de Donk 72'), Franssi (Parris 82'), Roddar, Goodwin, Sangaré, Kennedy, Geyoro (Asllani 58')