Rosa Kafaji denied Liverpool their first win of the WSL season as Brighton & Hove Albion secure a point on the road.
Liverpool’s winless start to the Women’s Super League (WSL) campaign shows no signs of ending, as they failed to see out a first WSL win of the season against a poor Brighton & Hove Albion side. Beata Olsson’s first half strike looked to have secured a massive three points in their battle against the drop, only for substitute Rosa Kafaji to sweep home in injury time to tie the match
The Lineups
LIV: Kirby; Woodham, Clark, Fisk, Shimizu Kerr, Nagano, Enderby, Kapocs, Holland, Olsson
BHA: Nnadozie; Olislagers, Minami, Hayes, Rule, Cankovic, Symonds, McLauchlan, Kirby, Seike, Camacho.
The Action
Liverpool came into the match with the joint worst form in the league, and in the opening exchanges, it showed. Carla Camacho had the games first real chance when she turned and shot on the edge of the Liverpool box, only to shoot straight at Faye Kirby. Jelena Čanković went closer when she stole the ball in the Liverpool half. Charging forward unopposed, she left fly from range, but again, Kirby was equal to it. Camacho looked all but certain to give the Seagulls the lead on 22 minutes when she rose to meet Kirby’s cross, only to see her header bounce off the post.
Having suffered such a torrid start to the season, Liverpool perhaps needed that bit of luck to help swing the momentum back their way. They took full advantage four minutes later, when Olsson slid in to convert Lily Woodham’s low cross, with goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie’s attempts to negate the situation questionable at best.
The goal had the desired effect, as Liverpool began to play with greater confidence, with quick fluid passing typical of Gareth Taylor’s style, and were unlucky not to go further ahead. Nnadozie redeemed herself from the earlier error by tipping a Fuka Nagano piledriver onto the crossbar. Samantha Kerr also had a thunderous effort cannon off the woodwork, and saw a sweeping volley fly just wide. But familiar failings still persisted.
Brighton should have drawn level before half time when Fuka Nagano lost the ball inside her own penalty area, gifting the away side two attempts to profit, only for Kirby to be equal to both.
The second half saw a drop in the pace as Liverpool struggled to re-discover their first half impetus. The game devolved into a stodgy quagmire of limited opportunities under the torrential rain at St Helens. Brighton came close to an equaliser on 70 minutes when substitute Rosa Kafaji instigated a rare moment of passing quality, which culminated in Fran Kirby seeing her shot cleared off the line by Risa Shimizu. As the clock ticked past 90, it looked for all the world that Liverpool had done enough to see out their first win of the season. That was until the 93rd minute, when Nadine Noordam’s cutback found Kafaji free in the box, and she swept home to steal a late point to take back down the M6.
Liverpool’s winless run continues to spiral
How? That will be the overriding emotion for Gareth Taylor, as his side saw yet another victory slip from their grasp this season. The fact that this was their first point of the season will be of little consolation, they were only spared the ignominy of being bottom of the pile thanks to Shannon O’Brien’s late equaliser at West Ham. For most of the first half, Liverpool looked the embodiment of what Gareth Taylor is trying to implement at the Merseyside club. A high press to force turnovers. Fast slick passing. The use of the wings to get crosses into the box. Their goal came just that, and they created further opportunities, but their wastefulness undermined their efforts.
What will be just as concerning however, is that having had all the momentum in the first half, they contrived to lose all of it in the second. They barely threatened Nnadozie’s goal for the remainder of the match, allowing the game to drift and leaving them exposed to the suck-punch. Gareth Taylor was keen to promote the positives post-match, citing that his players gave their maximum today, and that they were moving in the right direction. Although there were moments in the first half which showed this, the fact that they still aren’t able to find a win after seven games would be of greater concern.
Kafaji’s heroics save the day for Brighton
Brighton & Hove Albion were last season’s surprise package, with Dario Vidošić bringing a vibrant attacking style to the South Coast that brought about some impressive wins, most notably a 4-2 success over Arsenal.
But they have failed to start this season with the same gusto, with only two wins, and arrived at St Helens off the back of three straight defeats. The opportunity to hit their stride again against pointless Liverpool was there for them, but apart from a brief flurry in the first half, looked devoid of any creativity or attacking threat. Vidošić can rightly point to the loss of Michelle Agyemang, their star loan player now out for the season with an ACL injury, but their other summer striker signing, Camacho, did not convince. After hitting the post with a header midway through the first half, she disappeared from the game, and it came as no surprise to see Rosa Kafaji replace her just after the hour mark.
Indeed, it was Kafaji who Vidošić owes a great debt to. He may have lost one Arsenal loan to injury, but the other showed more thrust in attack than the rest of the team and ultimately saved the game. The warning signs were there when her driving run split the Liverpool defence, giving Brighton the attacking platform that almost resulted in an earlier equaliser. And it was Kafaji who instigated the final play, recycling a loose ball in the penalty area, then being in the right place to sweep home Noordam’s pass. After a difficult season spent mostly on the bench at Arsenal, Kafaji is taking full advantage of her game time at Brighton, and more crucial interventions like this will only raise her stock when Renée Slegers considers her squad options next summer.
