Soccer

‘It’s a good feeling’ says Khadija Shaw as City ensure Champions League progress

Gareth Taylor’s team have reached the quarter-finals of the competition.

Khadija Shaw, second left, celebrates scoring for Manchester City against Hammarby (Claudio Bresciani/AP)
Khadija Shaw, second left, celebrates scoring for Manchester City against Hammarby (Claudio Bresciani/AP) (Claudio Bresciani/AP)
By PA Sport staff

Khadija Shaw said Manchester City’s experience was critical as they overcame a challenging night to beat Hammarby 2-1 in Sweden and secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League.

Shaw scored in both halves, either side of Ellen Wangerheim’s equaliser, before goalkeeper Khiara Keating came up with some key saves to keep City ahead in front of a crowd of more than 20,000 in Stockholm.

Shaw’s brace took her to seven career Champions League goals and saw her overtake Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie as City’s all-time top scorer in the competition.

“It’s a good feeling,” Shaw told City’s website. “It was a difficult game tonight, but we managed to get the job done.

“It was a very difficult game tonight. The atmosphere and the pitch – it was our first time playing on astro-turf so it took us a while to get going.

“Once we did, we tried to execute what we know we’re good at. Some parts we could’ve tidied up on but at the end of the day the most important thing is qualifying and that’s what we’ve done. We have the experience and quality in the team and we’re used to these atmospheres.”

A point would have been enough for City to secure their progress with two games to spare in Group D, and that was always the primary goal for manager Gareth Taylor. Instead they did it by extending their perfect record in the competition this season.

“Really pleased, it was about qualification for us tonight,” Taylor said. “It was a really gritty performance, on the quality of this pitch it probably didn’t look it for the viewers watching it but it was a really lively surface. We worked so hard.

“I felt there were some areas we could have controlled the play better. Have to give credit to Hammarby, they were really aggressive.

“Really pleased and proud of the players, they dug in tonight.”