Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor commended his players for how they dealt with the “physical challenge” of Hammarby following the 2-0 Champions League victory over the Swedish outfit at the Joie Stadium.
After a first half in which City had lots of the ball but registered few attempts, they took the lead two minutes into the second via Laura Blindkilde Brown’s finish.
Aoba Fujino, who had hit the woodwork either side of the opener, then added an 80th-minute header, six minutes after Hammarby substitute Thea Sorbo was denied an equaliser by a superb Ayaka Yamashita save.
Taylor, whose side made it three wins from as many games in Group D and are three points clear of Barcelona at the top of the pool, said: “Really good performance.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they (have more than) us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well.
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and within (the first two minutes) we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“(The physicality was something) we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny (Khadija Shaw) and Alanna (Kennedy) on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
There were three changes to the City starting line-up for the fixture, which came four days before Taylor’s Women’s Super League leaders play second-placed champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Among the trio dropping out, Lauren Hemp did not feature in the squad, and Taylor said: “We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the (Crystal) Palace game (on November 3). She was able to play in the Tottenham game (last Friday) but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully (she can play against Chelsea). There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
City, unbeaten this term after 12 games in all competitions, will take a 10-match winning streak into Saturday’s contest.
That includes a 2-0 win over Champions League holders Barca, who thrashed Hammarby 9-0 last month in the second match of what is the Swedes’ debut campaign in the competition.
On their display this time out, during which they were backed by several hundred impressively vociferous fans in the stands, boss Martin Sjogren said: “We knew this was going to be a tough game for us, challenging, and that we’d be most of the game in defence, and I think we did that in a good way, especially throughout the first half.
“I’m very pleased with the performance, with the way we fought throughout the game.”
