Liverpool Ladies are back to winning ways after defeating 2-1 David Parker’s Birmingham City Ladies 2-1.
‘African Player of the Year’ Asisat Oshoala scored her first goal for the Reds before Fara Williams added a second.
Liverpool manager Matt Beard made three changes to the side that lost 2-1 on the opening day of the season against Sunderland, bringing in Becky Easton, Line Smorsgard and Kate Longhurst.
The Blues only made one change to the team that drew with Manchester City Women, replacing the suspended Freda Ayisi with 16-year-old Charlie Wellings.
Ayisi was given a straight red card for her role in a scuffle with City goalkeeper Karen Bardsley at the weekend.
The Blues’ Aoife Mannion scored with 10 minutes remaining, to make for a nervy end to the game, but Liverpool managed to hold on to all three points and bag their first win of the season.
Birmingham started the game the better team, and within the first minute of the game Emily Westwood was through on goal, but Liverpool defender Satara Murray tracked back well to make a last ditch challenge, denying the Blues an early lead.
From then on it was Liverpool who dominated the first half, and should have taken the lead on 32 minutes, Longhurst firing a magnificent volley into the back of the net, only to have the referee call play back for an earlier foul.
Just as the half looked like it was going to end goalless, the Reds grabbed the lead through Nigerian international Oshoala, who got on the end of Gemma Bonner’s searching cross to side foot expertly into the top corner.
In similar fashion to the first-half, Birmingham started the better team from the kick off, doing most of the running and putting the Liverpool defence under pressure.
But again it was the Reds who made the most of their chances, doubling their lead on 72 minutes when Oshoala turned provider, her cross finding Fara Williams who fired her first time shot fiercely into the back of the net.
With nine minutes left on the clock, Birmingham got themselves a goal when Mannion nicked the ball off Liverpool keeper Libby Stout and then calmly slotted the ball into the open net.
Birmingham searched for an equaliser after there was an agonising 15 minutes added on following an incident involving Liverpool’s Longhurst and Birmingham’s Remi Allen, which saw the Reds player stretchered off with concussion.
But Parker’s players couldn’t get that all important second goal, which leaves them winless in the league, and bitterly disappointed after beating their opponents just 7 days ago in the FA Women’s Cup.
Following their first win of the season Beard’s Liverpool Ladies will now travel to Chelsea – the team they narrowly beat to the title last year on goal difference.
