Everton Women defeated Birmingham City 2-1 in Sunday’s WSL clash at Goodison Park, with a double from Ruby Mace handing the Toffees all three points.
Everton Women only faced the West Midlands side two weeks ago, with the Women’s League Cup group-stage clash ending in a 2-0 victory for the Blues.
The Women’s start to the season has been a mixed bag. Scott Phelan’s side now sit 5th following their victory today. In fairness, it is probably early to judge expectations, but Everton Women’s familiar 8th-place finish in the 2025-26 campaign was addressed by the English manager, who took over in February, stating, “Maybe a sense of identity was missing” upon receiving the permanent role. Now it seems the Blues are building a side with character.
Birmingham City Women are still without a win in the league this season. Following their final-day title win and therefore promotion from WSL2, manager Amy Merrick seems to be finding it difficult to adjust the squad to the standard of the first division.
It did not take long for both sides to rise to the occasion. There was a big opportunity for Birmingham to open the scoring just nine minutes in, as Geummin Lee received a through ball one-on-one with the Everton goalkeeper and wrongfully dummied the pass as the ball rolled into Courtney Brosnan’s hands.
Both teams had chances early on, but it was Everton who opened the scoring. Yuka Momiki picked up the ball on the right-hand side, cut in and struck the post. It fell back into the path of the Japanese international, who laid it off to Ruby Mace, positioned centrally, who hit a sublime shot into the top left corner.
However, Birmingham’s equaliser was almost instant. A fantastic turn from Effa left Oceane Hurtre through on goal, who eventually slotted it past Brosnan. The equaliser from the winless visitors was unexpected and seemed to briefly rock the Everton ship, with the expectation of three points following the result two weeks ago now in doubt.
Amy Merrick’s side kept pushing, and hit the woodwork through Chancelle Effa Effa, though she was deemed to be in an offside position by the assistant referee.
For the remainder of the first half, chances were scarce. Everton dominated, but despite a couple of counterattacks for both sides, misplaced passes meant the clash was level at the break.
The second half started as the first ended, sluggish. There were two penalty claims within seconds of each other, with an apparent foul and handball in the Everton box leaving Birmingham unimpressed with the referee’s decision midway through the second half.
The Toffees needed stability, and found it through Mace’s second. The defensive midfielder picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box before guiding the ball into the bottom left corner of the Gwladys Street End, via two deflections, giving the Toffees a deserved lead.
Everton seemed apprehensive about committing many bodies forward during the latter stages of the tight encounter. The Toffees looked more than happy to run down the clock, shielding the ball in the corner.
Birmingham boss Merricks was prompting her squad to get forwards when possible, seeming very expressive on the touchline. Despite last-gasp shouts for a potential equaliser, it simply was not enough, and the Toffees came out 2-1 winners at Goodison Park.
Lineups:
Everton Women: Brosnan (C), Blunder, Layzell, Hayashi, van Gool, Vignola, Kramzar, Silcock, Momiki, Mace, Pacheco
Bench: Foster, Ishikawa, Wheeler, McNamara, Cain, Kitagawa, Mouchon, Finnigan, Galli
Birmingham Women: Baggaley, Levasseur, Lee, Naalsund, Crosthwaite, McKenna, Effa Effa, Turner (C), Hurtre, Miyagawa, Herron
Bench: Thomas, Startup, Harris, Cooke, Leidhammar, Amano, Holloway, Cornet, Sarri
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