Taylor delights in shared goals as Manchester City gain ground on WSL title rivals before clash with Arsenal

GARETH TAYLOR hailed Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s ‘special’ header as her tenth WSL goal this season, helping Manchester City beat Leicester.

Just when it looked like Foxes City’s title hunt might be thwarted, Shaw and Chloe Kelly clinched a 2-0 away win.

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And the encounter saw Leicester goalkeeper Janina Leitzig make ten saves and a heroic goal shift in the first half.

City boss Taylor said: “We were probably a bit wasteful in the first 20 minutes. The game could have been dead and buried.

“To say that their goalkeeper was inspired.

!It took something special to beat the keeper and it was a special goal from Bunny Shaw.

“It was a great throw-in and a really good header from Bunny.

“If she has more power, she’ll probably miss the target, so it was a really great header. Chloe’s (goal) was a great finish too.”

The result saw Man City go 16 games unbeaten with Taylor’s side overtaking Arsenal to finish third.

They also went a point ahead of the Gunners before their rivals headed to West Ham on Sunday night.

And on her second finish, Kelly opened up her WSL goal tally for the season.

Taylor added: “Sixteen games unbeaten with two draws, there’s a lot going on there.

“I think that’s great and you have to give the players full credit

“With Chloe’s goal, we’re very happy for her and we want to win. We don’t care who scores

“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on Bunny Shaw this season and she’s done great and the rest of the players will contribute.”

Before the game, Leicester had lost their previous three ties, with City conceding eight times in their last two league games.

But that game was a different story as the hosts came close to an early lead when Hannah Cain forced a flying save from Ellie Roebuck in the sixth minute.

First-class defensive work by the well-established Foxes team made it 0-0 in the first half.

Ashleigh Plumptre, Sophie Howard, Courtney Nevin and Leitzig all impress at the back of the hosts.

And Leitzig, on loan from Bayern Munich, broke the record for the number of saves in a WSL game.

Her string of stops included a broken ankle after a Shaw melee in the 15th minute, and a stop after a hemp punch in the 39th minute.

In the second spell, Laura Coombs entered the fight in place of Deyna Castellanos.

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And it was Coombs Cross that Shaw headed home in the 60th minute to break the deadlock.

The visitors doubled their lead 14 minutes later when Kelly fired home with a powerful left foot drive.

Cain later prompted Roebuck to an injury time before the final whistle as Leicester took on Liverpool the following Sunday.