It was a midweek spell of FA Continental Tyres League Cup action, as Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City side left Tottenham wondering in their 1-0 victory on the road. A wonder strike from Yui Hasegawa proved to be the difference at Brisbane Road Stadium, as the Cityzens continue their march on through to the semi final stages of the competition.

Speaking to the media in his post-match press conference, Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor praised his side’s efforts against the Spurs.

“We probably played more fluid in the pass, but to come here after being here 10 days ago, to get another clean sheet. Probably wasn’t anticipating Yui [Hasegawa] was going to be the goal scorer but she was tremendous tonight.

We played some good stuff in the second half, worked some situations. [We] need to be a bit better in the final actions but when it’s a quarterfinal, you just want to be there in the semis and we’re there. We’ve had a couple of difficult ties in this cup, everything was on the line against United, we came through there and the girls were good again tonight.”

Yui Hasegawa wrote her name on the scoresheet during last night’s league cup action, as her strike from 25 yards out sent the Tottenham net rippling. Having only previous scored on just one occasion in Sky Blue, Taylor spoke after the whistle in regards to Hasegawa’s brilliant effort from range.

“Normally she plays a little bit deeper, but on the set plays we work so hard on those. Normally she’s probably receiving that a little bit wider, and probably puts a cross into the box, but because she was central she probably thought ‘why not?’. It was a brilliant strike, I wasn’t behind it but I can imagine it had a bit of loop in it as well.”

Despite what the scoreline may suggest, the contest at Brisbane Road was far from even. City’s opposition failed to register an official shot during the fixture’s ninety minutes. Taylor reflected on how his side were able to dictate play from the last line, praising the efforts of those at the back.

“Alanna [Kennedy] has not played for a while, so for her to go out and perform that way was good. Alex [Greenwood] obviously is really solid, and Khiara [Kheating] she just plays beyond her years. She understands when to pay, and understands when it’s probably the right decision to be able to clip it longer. Clean sheets are just massive for us, this season we’ve done really well in that respect so long may it continue.”

A standout performance came in the form of Jess Park, as the 22 year-old showcased her maturity inside of the middle third. When asked what he made of Park’s performance, Taylor spoke of the display in high praise.

“Jess is so good in playing different positions, obviously in our system. She worked really hard, I think her pressing was really good, she looks after the ball pretty well most of the time even on the difficult surface. The colder it gets and the drier the surface gets, it gets difficult in some moments but she was good. I was impressed with her tonight, she played with maturity for a young player.”

Manchester City face a dense schedule in coming days, as they gear up to take on Arsenal this coming Sunday in the FA Cup. Returning to the capital in just four days, Taylor spoke on how his side aim to dial their focus into the next clash.

“I think this was an important one, [but] the next one is always the important one. I think to continue with that momentum, we’re obviously going to be down in London a fair bit over the next ten days. We were thinking about pitching up a tent, but it’s great. To come here, clean sheet, get into the semifinals and then we look forward to another competition in the FA cup on the weekend.”