Manchester City overcame a spirited Nottingham Forest to seal their place in the Subway League Cup quarter-finals thanks to goals from Grace Clinton and Lauren Hemp.
Forest manager Carly Davies made two changes from the goalless WSL2 draw with Sheffield United, as Jessie Stapleton and Aimee Claypole replaced Kirsty Smith and Nahikari Garcia.
Eartha Cumings started in goal for City, with Andree Jeglertz also handing starts to Sydney Lohmann, Laura Coombs and Clinton in a strong side. The four-time League Cup winners arrived unbeaten in all competitions since their opening-night defeat to Chelsea.
The Lineups
NFO: Batty; Hed, Mustaki, Brougham (C), Stapleton, Hamilton; Thomas, Rodgers; Rowe; Boye-Hlorkah, Claypole.
MCI: Cumings; Ouahabi, Knaak, Rose, Casparij (C); Hasegawa, Lohmann; Hemp, Clinton, Coombs; Shaw.
The Action
Forest changed from their usual back four to a 5-3-2 to try and soak up the Manchester City pressure, with Grace Clinton in the number ten role for the visitors behind the Women’s Super League’s leading scorer this season, Bunny Shaw.
The WSL2 side had Emily Batty to thank for a strong low save down to her left to deny Lauren Hemp seven minutes in, before the England forward’s cross was glanced wide by Shaw.
Carly Davies urged her team to be brave on the ball from the touchline and their first spell of pressure led to Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah winning a corner, which was cleared away at the near post. The resulting delivery was on the money, and saw three Forest shots all blocked in the penalty area as City stood firm.
Clinton let the home side know of her threat when she danced through a trio of Forest players before her shot was blocked by a diving Jessie Stapleton. Aimee Claypole’s long-range effort was tame and saved easily by Eartha Cumings up the other end.
The Reds were given a let-off on the half-hour mark when Shaw pickpocketed Rachel Rowe and set up Hemp, who curled a shot just wide of the top corner.
City broke the deadlock after 32 minutes through Clinton, who finished off a flowing move- former Forest loanee Laura Coombs’ cross flicked into Clinton’s path by a Shaw backheel.
Shaw was involved again as Georgia Brougham gave the ball away, but her effort was denied by Batty before the Forest goalkeeper was on hand to keep out Coombs on the rebound.
The visitors would quickly make it 2-0 however, Hemp getting the final touch on an inswinging corner from Yui Hasegawa to nudge the ball over the line on 38 minutes. Celebrations in the away end were delayed by a number of seconds, as the City supporters gradually realised the ball had indeed crossed the line.
Andree Jeglertz made a double substitution at half-time, with Laura Blinkilde Brown and Iman Beney introduced for Hasegawa and Hemp. Forest substitute Garcia, introduced in the first half when Freya Thomas limped off, rattled the post two minutes after the resumption with a powerful effort.
Blinkilde Brown fired over from 30 yards as City pushed for a third against Forest’s red wall on the edge of their penalty area.
A long ball from defence was worked to Coombs, who left the crossbar reverberating with a fierce strike before Shaw’s header was blocked on the line midway through the second half. Sydney Lohmann headed straight at Batty from a corner soon after.
Vivianne Miedema replaced Shaw upfront and nearly made it three with a low strike from outside the box. Forest fans thought Caragh Hamilton had pulled a goal back, but were dealt a double blow: the Northern Ireland international was offside, and had only found the side-netting.
Beney joined the list of players to strike the woodwork when a well-timed finish came back off the post. City were held in the second half, but had done enough to secure safe passage to the knockout stages of a competition that only Arsenal have won more.
Forest’s last meeting with City was an 8-0 FA Cup defeat in 2022 on the banks of the River Trent, and Jeglertz’s side emerged victorious by four goals to nil in a pre-season friendly only this summer, so defeat for the Reds was no shame. They will have to wait on the outcome of Newcastle and Everton’s clash on Sunday to discover if they will join City in Tuesday’s draw.
The Halfway Line Player of the Match: Grace Clinton
Relentless in attacking midfield, linking up play and dropping deep in a changed City midfield. Took her goal really nicely and caused problems all afternoon. A mention for Forest’s Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, who was the home side’s brightest spark upfront.
