By Richard Early
Date: February 17th, 2020
Venue: Ashton Gate Stadium
Attendance: 1,889
Referee: Declan Bourne
EVERTON progressed to the Women’s FA Cup Quarter-Final by ruthlessly defeating Bristol City 5-0 in the West Country.
The Blues led by three at the break through Lucy Graham’s brace and Esme Morgan’s goal, before Inessa Kaagman and Hannah Cain netted in the second period.
Tanya Oxtoby made two changes from the Robins’ 1-0 loss at Manchester City, as Ebony Salmon and Jeon Ga-eul started. Willie Kirk made one alteration from the Toffees’ 2-2 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur, with Hannah Cain starting.
Everton made a superb start by opening the scoring after nine minutes. Captain Graham led by example to poke in from close range off Chloe Kelly’s flick-on.
No.11 Kelly became striker for the Toffees’ next opportunity four minutes later. The 22-year-old powerfully struck on target from just outside the area, but Sophie Baggaley pulled off a strong stop.
The away side doubled their lead with 17 minutes played. 23-year-old Kaagman’s corner from the right, found the unmarked Esme Morgan in front of goal, who headed in.
Determined Kelly came close to bagging herself a goal three minutes later. The forward shrugged off a challenge from Frankie Brown and went one-on-one with goalkeeper Baggaley, but shot wide.
The home team were eager to get back into the game and came close after 22 minutes. Ebony Salmon was shadowed by scorer Morgan and attempted from the edge of the box, curling agonisingly wide of the right post.
Everton went on to add a third with six minutes of the opening 45 remaining. Forward Graham sealed a brace by beating 23-year-old Baggaley with a pinpoint header and finding the top right corner.
After the interval, it took eight minutes for the visiting side to add a fourth. Dutch international Kaagman slotted into the far corner of the net from Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah’s terrific through-ball.
The Blues went on to score a fifth one minute prior to the hour mark. Winger Boye-Hlorkah’s delivery from the inside right of the area found 20-year-old Cain, who acrobatically overhead-kicked beyond stopper Baggaley.
Bristol City looked to lessen the damage and crafted a chance five minutes later. Charlie Wellings floated a cross towards the back-post, but Katie Robinson couldn’t get her head to the ball.
Everton continued to dominate, as Bristol City’s defence tightened, but no clear-cut chances arose for the remainder and the Toffees progressed to the last eight, hosting Chelsea.
Final score: Bristol City Women 0-5 Everton Women
Player of the match: Lucy Graham
Tanya Oxtoby: “It was unacceptable. We asked the girls to set-up in a very similar way to Wednesday night when we played Manchester City and we didn’t do that and got punished.”
Willie Kirk: “I thought we deserved the win, deserved our goals and deserved a clean sheet because we worked really hard, even when we were well ahead.”
Bristol City Women: Baggaley, Evans (Allen 19’), Brown (C), Pattinson, Salmon, Daniels, Wellings, Ga-eul (Wynne 56’), Robinson, Chance, Bryson. Subs not used: Cumings, Jones.
Everton Women: Korpela, Turner, George (van Es 5’), Boye-Hlorkah, Kaagman, Kelly, Morgan, Cain, Graham (C) (Stringer 70’), Finnigan, Clemaron.Subs not used: Levell, Hinds, Magill, Pike, MacIver.
