Bunny Shaw blanks but Manchester City edge closer to WSL crown

MANCHESTER, England (CMC): Reggae Girlz forward Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw was unable to find the net, but Manchester City still walked away with a narrow 1-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday at the Joie Stadium, taking another step towards the Women's Super League (WSL) crown.

A stoppage-time strike from defender Rebecca Knaak kept the Sky Blues' title bid alive and left their fate firmly under their own control. Knaak nodded home in the dying moments, beating Liverpool 'keeper Jennifer Falk to push City 11 points ahead of Arsenal, although the Manchester side has played three matches more than the Gunners.

With that result, a victory over West Ham United on May 16 in their final fixture will hand Manchester City the league title, no matter how Arsenal close out their remaining schedule.

For long stretches the home side were second best, producing a flat first-half display in which their solitary shot on target came from Shaw at close quarters, only to be smothered by the Liverpool goalkeeper.

City grew into the match after the interval once they had ridden out the early Liverpool pressure, with Brazilian forward Kerolin and Shaw both seeing further attempts pushed away by Falk.

Liverpool's chances dried up as the second period wore on and Manchester City took control. Unable to absorb wave after wave of late pressure, the visitors were finally undone when Knaak's header crept over the line, helped on its way by Falk, who got a hand to the effort but could not gather it cleanly.