Aston Villa's match winner Rachel Daly paid tribute to her team's grit in bouncing back from their FA Cup disappointment and returning to the Women's Super League with a win over Leicester.
The England striker's 16th-minute goal sealed a 1-0 win at the Pirelli Stadium, but keeper Daphne van Domselaar also played well on a night that saw Villa give full-back Sarah Meiring a goal-line clearance in the second half. expressed his gratitude.
It was the perfect response to last Saturday's 3-0 cup defeat to Everton, which saw Carla Ward's side move up to seventh in the table with their fourth win of the season.
Asked by the club's official X account to reflect on his fifth league goal of the season, Daly said: “To be fair, it was okay. I accept that.
“But to be honest, everyone's performance was great. That's the character tonight. We knew from last week's performance that we had to turn the game around and it was from the blocks on the line to the whole game. It was everyone, right down to the spirit. Of course it was good to score, but what a win.”
Villa enjoyed the first half better and could have done better with one or more goals at half-time. However, Leicester had a strong finish and looked destined to snatch a point in the final minute, but in the 87th minute, substitute Eva Baker's shot in front of goal was blocked by Mayring.
Leicester manager Willie Kirk, whose ninth-placed side have not won a league game since October, needs to adopt a different mindset to the one that served him so well in last season's successful battle to stay in the table. I admitted that there was.
After newsletter promotion
He told BBC Leicester: People compare us to last year, but we're not last year, so we want to feel the pressure. Everyone relegated us last year, so it might be easier to handle that pressure. But we must learn to live with new expectations, and that involves a change in mindset. ”
