Dominant Win For City Who Exit The League Cup
Sam Tierney opened the scoring in Burton before Deanne Rose and a Shannon O'Brien penalty put the game out of sight. Second half substitutes Jutta Rantala and Missy Goodwin rounded off a great win for City, as Hanna Bennison scored late on for Everton.
There were four changes to the starting XI that lost 1-0 to Aston Villa less than a week ago, as Lize Kop, Josie Green, Aileen Whelan and Rose all came into the team; right-back CJ Bott named on the bench was also a promising sight for the Foxes.
It was a rapid start to the game from Leicester, who had several missed opportunities, most notably when Whelan picked up a poor back pass from Everton but failed to convert, however after 18 minutes, the deadlock was broken by the team on top.
Good work from Saori Takarada to hit the byline allowed her the chance to put a low cross into the box which was clipped into the net by Tierney, before Rose doubled Leicester's advantage minutes later when a O'Brien cross was headed home by the Canadian, who scored her second goal of the season after netting against Derby County.
Just before the half-an-hour mark, City took a commanding lead as O'Brien weaved her way through the box before being tripped; after appeals from the visitors, the winger stepped up, sent the 'keeper the wrong way and passed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
After five minutes of added time, the referee's whistle brought Leicester's fantastic first half to an end, allowing the introductions of young forwards Goodwin and Ava Baker into the game. It didn't take the former long to make a impact, scoring after only being on the pitch for two minutes.
Breaking in behind on the left wing, the 20-year-old beat Courtney Brosnan to the ball and etched her name onto the scoresheet, taking City's lead to four goals, a feat which has only been matched on two occasions this season; against Bristol City and Derby.
The first sign of danger for Leicester came 69 minutes in when a ball over the top was collected by Martina Piemonte and tried her luck with a quick effort as Kop, who thought against coming out for the ball, was backtracking to the line, but the eventual effort from the Italian forward was wide.
In the final 10 minutes, another substitute from Kirk's bench made a positive impact as Rantala found the net. This goal came only minutes after a missed penalty for the hosts as Goodwin's low effort was saved by Brosnan, but the 'keeper was at fault for giving the ball to Tierney, who drove the team forward before the Finnish international fired in a left-footed effort from the edge of the box.
The Toffees did get a consolation goal late on in the game when Bennison found the net from close range, but it wasn't enough to spark any serious trouble as Leicester cruised on to victory, though Manchester City's 2-1 win over Manchester United means the Foxes exit the competition.
However, Kirk will be delighted with how his side played tonight, and will take great confidence in their highest scoring game performance, as they head back to Barclays Women's Super League action this weekend for the trip to Walton Hall Park on Sunday afternoon.