Man City boss Taylor heaps praise on Khadija Shaw after West Ham victory

By Matthew Cox

Gareth Taylor hailed goal scoring centre forward Khadija Shaw after her goal earned Manchester City a 1-0 over West Ham United.

City dominated for most of the match but scoring by just the once, the match was not without nervy moments for the visitors.

At the end of the first half the home side had a number of presentable chances, but Shaw sealed the deal in the first five minutes after the break.

Taylor said: "We lost some goals in the team when you lose the likes of Caroline Weir, Stanway, and Ellen White.

"So I think Shaw obviously catching fire like she has done, has been amazing for us and long may it continue!"

The forward is now back level with Rachel Daly as WSL top scorer with nine.

"She looked a real threat all night. She looked really hungry to score goals as well so that's really exciting to see," added Taylor.

However, Taylor recognised that his side perhaps ought to have won by more.

"If you look at the stats, you probably look at a five or six nil win, but we end up with a 1-0.

"But we keep the clean sheet which is important and we get the vital three points."

That crucial defending was particularly impressive for Taylor as his side had prepared for a different system from their hosts.

He said: "We were expecting West Ham to play a five, and obviously, you can see early on they were playing four and that meant we had to adjust, because we were working for a few days on something different, but they're bright players.

"I felt like the players particularly, at the back, Alex, Alana, Esme and Laila defended between the lines pretty well against the threat of West Ham."

Meanwhile, Paul Konchesky was left frustrated with the contrast in his side either side of half time.

He said: "[It is] Frustrating because it could have been nice to get a goal just before half time.

"But to come out the way we came out properly upsets me.

"We weren't ready and they scored, and it's always going to be a mountain to climb but we gave it a good go and I'm really proud of the girls.

"I'm disappointed because I think we deserved something out of the game today."

Next, his side face Everton and will have the chance to move above them into fifth.

"We'll compete in every game.

"We've done that today but we'll be ready again for Everton and hopefully we can go and get the three points up there."