Khadija Shaw thought she had won it. With five minutes left in Manchester on Thursday night, the City striker scored a penalty to put her team 1-0 up against Paris Saint-Germain. Three minutes later PSG were level, and City were left still waiting for their first win in this season’s Women’s Champions League.
A late penalty for Shaw
For 85 minutes nobody could break through. The score stayed 0-0 deep into the second half, and a draw without goals looked likely.
Then Shaw ran into the box and was brought down by PSG defender Griedge Mbock. The referee gave the penalty, and Shaw sent it in herself in the 85th minute.
It was another goal in a strong run for the Jamaica forward. Shaw finished third in the Ballon d’Or vote earlier this week, and she keeps scoring week after week for City.
PSG hit back
The lead did not last. In the 88th minute PSG went long, and Tara Elimbi Gilbert ran clear of the City defence before finishing past the goalkeeper.
It was a quick and simple goal, and it came just as City were starting to think about the three points. For the visitors it was a good way to end the night. For City it hurt.
Three games, three draws
The draw leaves City with three points from three games in the league phase. They have not lost, but they have not won either, and all three games have ended level.
That has them in 10th place in the table, outside the top four. The top four go straight into the quarter-finals, and City now have only three league-phase games left to climb.
City coach Andrée Jeglertz now has to find a way to turn these draws into wins, and quickly.
Our take
City did enough to win this game. They kept PSG quiet for most of the night and found a way through late on, which is often the hardest part. Losing the lead three minutes later is the kind of moment that hurts a team in a group like this.
The good news for City is Shaw. A striker in this kind of form will win games on her own, and three draws with no defeats is not a disaster yet. But three more points here would have changed the picture, and the next three games now feel like finals.
Can Man City still reach the top four in the Women’s Champions League? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Khadija Shaw by Dianaatflourish (CC BY-SA 4.0), Andrée Jeglertz by Katie Chan (CC BY-SA 4.0), Lauren Hemp by Katie Chan (CC BY-SA 4.0), Joie Stadium by Hmickey (CC BY-SA 4.0).
