Lauren Hemp Stars in Manchester City's Thrilling 4-2 Victory Over Liverpool
Lauren Hemp struck in the 13th minute and again deep into stoppage time as Manchester City clung on, then pulled clear, in a wild 4-2 win over Liverpool that kept the WSL champions perfect and stretched their home winning run to 13 league games.
For 90 minutes, that record looked ready to crack.
Hemp starts and finishes the job
City flew out of the blocks. The first goal was everything they want to be this season: sharp, slick, ruthless. A sweeping team move sliced through Liverpool and Hemp arrived to finish it off for her first goal since November, a reminder of just how dangerous she is when she drifts in from the left with purpose.
Liverpool did not fold. They bit back.
A mix-up at the back opened the door and Alice Bergstrom didn’t hesitate, lashing home to level. City wobbled, Liverpool sensed it, and the visitors began to play with a swagger that would have been unthinkable a year ago.
The pressure told. Vivien Endemann, already influential after creating the first, met a loose ball in the box and volleyed a fierce effort that zipped through Ayaka Yamashita’s outstretched hand. From 1-0 down to 2-1 up, Liverpool had flipped the champions on their own turf and were winning the duels all over the pitch.
City needed a response. As so often, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw supplied it.
She had already rattled the post as City hunted a way back, then struck in first-half stoppage time. Hemp’s drive forced a spill from Khiara Keating, and Shaw, alive to every rebound, stabbed in from close range for her fourth WSL goal of the season. It was scruffy, it was vital, and it underlined again why keeping her this summer may prove City’s smartest piece of business.
Errors decide a frantic contest
At 2-2, the second half became a test of nerve as much as quality. Liverpool’s press stayed aggressive, their decision-making largely sharper. City, for long spells, looked second-best in the duels, relying on moments rather than control.
Shaw continued to menace. Keating had to tip one of her efforts over the bar on the hour, a reminder that City, even when rattled, can create danger in a heartbeat.
The game, though, was always drifting towards a mistake. When it came, it was brutal.
With the 90 minutes up and five added on, Liverpool’s captain Grace Fisk turned a low ball into her own net, a horrible own goal that handed City a 3-2 lead just as the visitors seemed to be managing the closing stages.
Chasing an equaliser, Liverpool threw bodies forward. They had to. That risk opened the door for Hemp one last time.
Breaking from deep, she surged away into open grass, carried the ball the length of the Liverpool half and, with time to think and an old team-mate in front of her in Keating, slid her finish into the corner. A ruthless counter, a 4-2 scoreline, and a game that had been hanging by a thread suddenly looked emphatic on paper.
“It shows we’ve got a lot of depth,” Hemp said afterwards, admitting she’s not usually the one filling the scoresheet but delighted to have done it twice, especially with that late chance when she “had so much time” to pick a spot.
Her manager Andree Jeglertz praised the mentality as much as the finishing. City, he said, “never stop believing,” and in a match where both sides gifted chances, it was the champions who punished the errors with greater ferocity.
Liverpool’s new look, same ambition
The scoreline stings for Liverpool, but the performance told its own story.
They went toe-to-toe with the champions at a ground where almost nobody leaves with anything. For long stretches they pressed smarter, made cleaner choices on the ball and played with a confidence that speaks to how far they’ve travelled since last season’s turmoil.
This is not the Liverpool that staggered through an annus horribilis, grieving the loss of former boss Matt Beard and kitman Jon Humble while injuries shredded any hope of rhythm. The club stuck with Gareth Taylor and the rebuild has gathered pace since the turn of the year.
The summer work showed. Endemann, fresh from Wolfsburg, did not resemble a player with only a handful of WSL games behind her. She looked seasoned, inventive, and repeatedly unsettled the City defence alongside Beta Olsson and Bergstrom. Liverpool’s front line asked questions all night.
Taylor, understandably, was left with mixed feelings: “It’s disappointing, we’ve just come up a bit shy,” he said, but stressed that Liverpool had been “us” – bold, proactive, front-foot. Play like that, he believes, and the wins will come.
He pointed to the fine margins: second balls breaking City’s way, City’s ability to turn half-chances into goals, and Liverpool’s own need to sharpen that “final action” in the box. Context matters too. Liverpool finished 11th last season. City are champions. Liverpool had two 16-year-olds on the bench; City could change the game with seasoned internationals.
Even so, the numbers tell you how far Liverpool have come. It took them 12 games to reach four points last term. They’ve hit that mark already and sit third, with a top-half push now a realistic ambition if they maintain this trajectory.
City stretch clear, but not untested
For City, the outcome is all that counts. Four goals scored, two more for Hemp, another for Shaw, and a five-point cushion at the top of the table heading into the rest of the weekend’s fixtures. A 13th straight home league win at the Joie Stadium, equalling their record run.
This was not a polished, serene defence of their crown. It was scrappy, nervy, and decided by mistakes as much as brilliance. Yet when the game broke loose, City’s stars decided it.
If this is the level Liverpool can already hit in mid-September, how much higher can they climb by spring? And with challengers closing the gap, how many more times can City afford to live this dangerously and still look like champions?
