Report: Palace Women fall to heavy Lionesses defeat

Summary

• Waldie and Arthur return to Dean Davenport’s starting XI
• Visitors take the lead through Ewens after 21 minutes
• Lionesses score twice further in a half they dominated
• HT: Palace 0-3 London City Lionesses
• Gibbons nearly pulls one back, but heads wide from centre of the area
• Lionesses score twice more to pull away
• FT: Palace 0-5 London City Lionesses

Back at Hayes Lane, Palace were on the back foot right from the early exchanges against an in-form London City Lionesses side.

Davenport's team struggled to gain possession of the ball, as Shanade Hopcroft twice struck the woodwork for the Lionesses inside the opening 20 minutes.

That pressure told soon after when Sarah Ewens controlled Hopcroft’s cross and, from the centre of the box, found the bottom-right corner of the goal for the Lionesses with a quickly-taken finish.

Annabel Blanchard attempted to mount an immediate response for Palace, but found her effort blocked by Shae Yanez in the visitors’ goal, whilst Elise Hughes had a header float over the bar.

But the visitors doubled their advantage on 34 minutes when Jamie-Lee Napier was set clear by Lois Heuchan’s slide-rule pass. At her first attempt, Palace ‘keeper Natalia Negri made an excellent stop, but Napier was on hand to slot home a second goal for her team.

As five minutes of additional time were signalled, Palace pressed forwards, but struggled to contain the Lionesses at the other end and Karin Muya, who produced a thumping header to leave the Eagles trailing by three at the break.

While Palace still carried hope of producing a comeback, the Lionesses’ lead became four 20 minutes into the second-half. Napier’s weaving run carried the ball up to Palace’s box, and her accurate pass found Muya in space to flick a fourth into the net.

As the clock edged towards full-time, an extra seven minutes were added – enough time for the Lionesses to have one last chance to score.

Lucy Shepherd darted through the Palace defence and, collecting from Negri, finished from a difficult angle, resulting in a heavy defeat for Palace in this week’s FA Women’s Championship.

Despite an improved performance in the second-half, the heavy loss leaves Palace seventh in the table, still seeking their first win of 2023.

Their next match will be against winless Coventry United, where Davenport’s side will hope to show more of what they are made of.

Crystal Palace: Negri, Doran (Bailey-Gayle, 81), Johnson, Waldie, Gibbons, Reilly (Filbey, 36), Peplow, Noble (Arthur, 65), Guyatt (Sharpe, 43), Blanchard, Haines

Subs not used: Smith, Peplow, Olding

London City Lionesses: Yanez, Nolan, Girasoli (Agg, 55), Bennett, Heuchan, Hopcroft, Rodgers, Joel, Napier, Ewens (Jarrett, 73), Muya (Shepherd, 73)

Subs not used: Pedersen, Cull, Fitzgerald, Kitching, Primus