Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City began their Women's Super League title defence with a 3-1 victory over newly promoted Birmingham City. The Jamaica striker, who won the Golden Boot last season, headed in twice from second-half corners to seal the win, demonstrating why the club persuaded her to sign a new contract in the summer.
Shaw's double secures victory
Shaw could have scored at least twice in the first half, but was denied by an excellent debut performance from Birmingham goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley. The striker was not to be denied after the break, rising highest to head in from corners taken by Kerstin Caspari and then debutant Beth Mead, scoring her side's second and third goals.
Mary Fowler's low finish had already opened the scoring, with what was Manchester City's 1,000th goal as a professional women's side. Birmingham grabbed a late consolation through Océane Hurtré, who capitalised on a defensive lapse from Jade Rose and rolled the ball home in the 90th minute.
Encouraging signs for Birmingham
There were plenty of encouraging signs overall for the second-tier champions of last season. Birmingham were playing on the same ground on which they were relegated in 2022, when they were hit for six by Manchester City, but on Sunday Amy Merricks's side looked far stronger and more competitive, keeping the scoreline goalless until after half-time.
On the day of Lauren Hemp's 200th Manchester City appearance and the club's 1,000th goal, it was a dominant start from the defending champions. Head coach Andrée Jeglertz said: "We created a lot of scoring chances. The first half, [we were] a little bit hesitant on the ball, not determined with or without the ball, but the second half was better."
Merricks, who hailed Baggaley's debut as "exceptional", said: "We got into some good areas and lacked just a bit of anticipation that we would get there. That's just down to belief, that's not quality. I'm really pleased with the performance. I'm disappointed with the result but really pleased with the platform we've given ourselves to build on."
Arsenal, Palace, Spurs and Liverpool win
Lisa Baum marked her Arsenal debut with an exquisitely taken goal, her early strike enough to secure a 1-0 victory at Brighton and inflict a defeat on their new head coach, Arturo Ruiz. The 19-year-old Germany youth international created room for herself to shoot inside the area in the 10th minute and rifled home a clinical finish from a tight angle, in off the underside of the crossbar.
Baum, who arrived this summer from RB Leipzig, was one of four new signings to start the game for Arsenal, who also introduced Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle and Misa Rodriguez. Arsenal had failed to win at Brighton in the past two league campaigns and will have been very satisfied to open their title bid with a victory as they seek to hunt down a first league title since 2019. Ruiz, who has been in charge for Brighton at nine days, saw some encouraging signs from his new team with Kiko Seike and Fran Kirby both going close.
Lexi Lloyd-Smith slotted home on her first appearance for Crystal Palace to give the promoted side a priceless 1-0 win against Everton. Another debutant quickly impressed at Tottenham as their new striker Kirsty Hanson scored twice to help them beat West Ham 3-1.
Liverpool were the day's most emphatic winners as they cruised to a 4-0 victory away at the promoted Charlton. Germany striker Vivien Endemann scored on her debut for Liverpool after Grace Fisk had scored twice. Cornelia Kapocs added a stoppage-time penalty to make it a poor start for Charlton, who did not register a shot on target and recorded just two efforts off target.
