Leicester Fall To Late Man City Defeat
Willie Kirk made two changes to the starting XI that beat Everton 1-0 last weekend with CJ Bott and Sophie Howard coming in for Lena Petermann and the suspended Josie Green.
Lining up in a back five, City approached the start of the game with caution, looking to keep the hosts away from the box, while Shannon O'Brien was leading the line in Petermann's absence.
The first sight of goal for Leicester came just after the 20-minute mark when Yuka Momiki noticed Jutta Rantala's run in behind and played an accurate through ball over the top, but the Finland international couldn't keep her effort down as the ball flew over the bar.
Throughout the first half, Man City dominated large parts of possession and the front three of Hemp, Kelly and Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw were looking dangerous, but as the minutes went by, the Foxes' confidence grew. Momiki played several clever passes and O'Brien was working hard up front, but the chances to run at the Citizens' backline were few and far between.
As the game worked towards half-time, the hosts had their best chance of the game, when a floated cross from the right met Hemp, but from close range Lize Kop did well to make the block and collect the football.
The visiting Manager made one change to the team at half-time, bringing Remy Siemsen into the game for Courtney Nevin, who was on a yellow card. This saw Janice Cayman move across on to the left of a back four.
Around the hour mark, the hosts did have the ball in the back of the net, when Shaw followed up from close range, but the assistant referee's flag was raised, offering a lifeline to the Leicester team.
Over the next 20 minutes, Man City kept working the Foxes' defence, with a couple of efforts being blazed over the bar by Shaw, but there were obvious signs that Leicester were tiring in the game.
With fewer than seven minutes of normal time to go, there was heartbreak for the away side when Hemp broke the deadlock. A ball into the box was turned goalwards by the Lionesses forward who improvised with a back heel which beat Kop.
In the final stages, Man City doubled their lead when Kelly delivered a corner into the box, and sat back and watched as the wind carried it all the way into the Leicester net, confirming defeat for the travelling Foxes.