Everton Women 2-1 Birmingham City Women: Blues Suffer Narrow Defeat
Birmingham City Women suffered another narrow defeat in the Barclays Women’s Super League as Ruby Mace’s second goal of the afternoon secured a 2-1 victory for Everton at Goodison Park.
There was plenty for Birmingham City Women to take from their latest trip to Merseyside, but ultimately no reward for another competitive performance. Everton edged a closely fought contest, with Mace scoring twice after Océane Hurtré had brought the Blues level.
The result leaves Birmingham still searching for their first WSL victory of the campaign, with two draws and three defeats from their opening five league matches.
Everton make a fast start
Everton began with real intent and immediately looked capable of putting Birmingham under pressure.
Ornella Vignola tested Sophie Baggaley with a curling effort after six minutes, before Honoka Hayashi went close shortly afterwards after meeting Hannah Blundell’s dangerous delivery.
Birmingham’s goalkeeper was equal to the early examination, but Everton’s pressure eventually told.
The opening goal arrived in the 12th minute.
Yuka Momiki’s effort came back off the post, with Ruby Mace reacting quickest inside the penalty area to give Everton the lead.
For Birmingham, it was another early setback.
However, the Blues responded almost immediately and showed the resilience that has been evident in their performances this season.
Hurtré responds for Birmingham
Just three minutes after falling behind, Birmingham produced the perfect response.
The Blues broke forward with purpose, with Chancelle Effa Effa providing the assist for Hurtré. The Birmingham forward broke into space on the left before producing an excellent finish into the bottom-right corner.
It was another important contribution from Hurtré, who has quickly become one of Birmingham’s most dangerous attacking outlets since their return to the Women’s Super League.
The equaliser changed the complexion of the contest.
Everton had started strongly, but Birmingham began to settle and looked increasingly comfortable competing with their hosts.
The two sides went into half-time level at 1-1, with Birmingham having recovered impressively from Everton’s early pressure.
Birmingham start second half brightly
The Blues emerged for the second half with renewed purpose.
Birmingham were willing to press higher and attack with greater intent, creating opportunities that suggested a second goal could be within their reach.
On 54 minutes, Neve Herron came close when she poked an effort wide from inside the six-yard box.
Shortly afterwards, Lily Crosthwaite went close with a curling effort that drifted narrowly wide.
Those moments underlined Birmingham’s ambition.
The Blues were not simply attempting to survive against Everton. They were looking to win the game and continued to push forward despite facing a side determined to regain control.
Ruby Mace delivers the decisive blow
Football can be unforgiving, and Birmingham were punished when Everton found the decisive moment.
On 72 minutes, Ruby Mace found space on the edge of the Birmingham penalty area and produced a superb finish into the bottom-left corner.
It was Mace’s second goal of the afternoon and gave Everton the advantage for the second time.
Birmingham now had less than 20 minutes to rescue something from the contest.
Everton became increasingly determined to protect their lead, while the Blues continued searching for an opening that could bring them level again.
Blues refuse to give up
Despite falling behind for a second time, Birmingham continued to compete until the final whistle.
The visitors made changes as they searched for a way back into the match, while Everton also introduced fresh legs as they attempted to close the game down.
The Blues continued to push, refusing to allow the game to drift away from them.
Everton thought they had added a third in stoppage time when Holly McNamara found the net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
That decision ensured Birmingham remained within touching distance until the final stages.
However, the equaliser never arrived and the final whistle confirmed another narrow defeat for Birmingham City Women.
Another performance that deserved more
The disappointment will be obvious inside the Birmingham camp, but this was not a performance in which the Blues were comprehensively outplayed.
Everton had more possession and registered more attempts, but Birmingham created enough promising moments to believe that a point, and potentially all three points, were within their reach.
According to the match statistics, Everton finished with 60.1% possession, 16 attempts and eight shots on target. Birmingham had 39.9% possession, 10 attempts and one shot on target.
That final figure will be an obvious area for improvement.
The Blues were able to get themselves into promising positions, but turning those opportunities into clear chances and shots on target remains an important challenge.
Hurtré continues to provide hope
One of the biggest positives for Birmingham remains Hurtré.
The forward again demonstrated her ability to make things happen in the final third and showed composure when the Blues needed it most.
Her goal at Everton was another positive contribution during a promising start to life in the WSL.
Birmingham will need more players to provide a similar attacking threat if they are to turn competitive performances into victories.
The opportunities are being created. The next step is becoming more clinical when those opportunities arrive.
Defensive resilience from the Blues
There were also positive signs defensively.
Despite Everton’s strong start and periods of pressure, Birmingham remained organised and refused to allow the game to run away from them.
Millie Turner, captaining the side, once again provided leadership from the back, while Sophie Baggaley made important saves during Everton’s early spell of pressure.
Birmingham’s ability to remain in the contest after conceding inside the opening 12 minutes was particularly encouraging.
At 1-0 down, there was a danger Everton could have taken control of the match.
Instead, Birmingham responded almost immediately and were level only three minutes later.
The bigger picture for Birmingham City Women
There is understandably frustration surrounding Birmingham’s league position.
After five matches, the Blues remain without a victory, with two draws and three defeats leaving them on two points.
However, the early-season picture needs to be considered in its entirety.
Birmingham have faced Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton already, while also drawing with Brighton and Crystal Palace.
The performances suggest there is a foundation for Amy Merricks’ side to build upon.
The difficulty is that football ultimately rewards results rather than performances, and Birmingham now need to start turning competitive displays into points.
The margin between a narrow defeat and a valuable draw has been painfully small on several occasions.
Against Everton, Birmingham were again within one goal of taking something from the game.
A painful lesson, but plenty to build on
There will be disappointment in the Birmingham dressing room, and rightly so.
The Blues travelled to Merseyside knowing that Everton had already beaten them 2-0 in the Subway Players Cup less than two weeks earlier. This time, however, Birmingham were much more competitive and showed greater attacking threat.
Ultimately, Mace’s quality proved decisive.
Her two finishes were the difference between the sides and ensured Everton collected all three points.
For Birmingham, the challenge is now to make sure another narrow defeat does not become another missed opportunity.
There are encouraging signs. There is resilience, attacking quality in Hurtré, experience and leadership within the squad, and evidence that Birmingham can compete in the Women’s Super League.
What the Blues now need is the ruthlessness to turn those performances into victories.
Birmingham will have to wait until after the international break for their next league assignment, when they travel to face Arsenal on October 17.
That will represent another formidable challenge.
If Birmingham can maintain the competitive spirit shown at Goodison Park while becoming more clinical in front of goal, their first WSL victory may not be far away.
For now, though, it is another case of so near, yet so far for Birmingham City Women.
Everton Women 2-1 Birmingham City Women
Final score: Everton Women 2-1 Birmingham City Women
Goals: Ruby Mace 12′, Océane Hurtré 15′, Ruby Mace 72′
Venue: Goodison Park
Attendance: 2,026
Referee: William Davis