By Joe Rosedon 18/3/24
Photo: Simon Lapwood For London City Lionesses Twitter
London City Lionesses shock promotion chasing Sunderland with 1-0 win. Ruesha LittleJohn’s stunning first-half effort was enough to seal victory for the Dartford-based side.
Within the first five minutes, London City Lionesses had a guilt-edged chance. Claudia Moan was called into action when Paige Satchell was put through on goal with a ball over the top, but the Sunderland goalkeeper was equal to it, producing a smart save at her near post.
Satchell proved dangerous all game, providing a critical attacking outlet.
London City Lionesses again troubled the defence of the league leaders. This time it was Danielle Carter, whose effort from a tight angle was palmed over the crossbar by Moan.
This pressure led to the opening goal for London City Lionesses. A cross from the right-hand side from Carter found LittleJohn on the edge of the box. The Ireland international did the rest, curling home and giving her team a deserved lead.
The league leaders did have opportunities in the first half. Jenna Dear struck the post with a volley while feeling they were denied a penalty following a collision involving Moloney in the box.
Sunderland needed a big second half to overturn the first-half deficit and they almost got the perfect start. A ball over the top found second-half substitute Ejupi Griffiths, who dragged her effort wide of the post.
London City Lionesses almost doubled their lead. A square pass from Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah almost found Emma Mukandi but Moan did enough to prevent the Scot from doubling the lead. Boye-Hlorkah again found herself in a similar position soon after, but her effort was fired into the side netting.
Captain Lois Jole also had a good opportunity to double the home side lead but fired over from the edge of the box. Jolewas also involved soon after when her dangerous free kick found Paige Culver at the back post who headed wide.
An intricate and well-worked move from London City Lionesses opened up Sunderland’s defence but Boye-Hlorkahfailed to convert after a tremendous save from Moan at close range.
This time it was Moloney’s turn to produce an excellent save, fully stretched to deny Brown after the ball fell kindly to the Sunderland player from a corner. The away side were beginning to turn up the pressure.
But the home side were able to withstand the pressure and secure a vital win in their bid to maintain their Championship Status
After promotion hopefuls Crystal Palace earlier loss to Sheffield United, this will feel like a missed opportunity for Sunderland to have created a gap between their rivals for WSL status next season.
After the match, London City Lionesses manger Remi Allen said, when asked about the performance of her team “Overall,really proud, I think we played some nice football in the first half, and we had opportunities to really hurt them.
I think the second half became a bit of a scrap and we created enough to make the game more comfortable than it was”.
Starting XIs
London City Lionesses: Moloney (GK), Mukandi, Brougham, Campbell, Joel(C), Satchell, Fitzgerald, Carter, Culver, LittleJohn, Boye-Hlorkah
Subs: Cull, Scofield, Douglas, Alexander, Lindström, Wilde, Henson, Farrelly,
Goal: LittleJohn (25)
Sunderland Moan (GK) Brown, Goodard, Westrup(C), Ede(Griffiths 45), Fenton, Rouse, Dear, McAteer, Kitching(Watson 76) Scarr
Subs: Borthwick, McCatty, Beer, McInnes, Jones, Ejupi,
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