Photo via Sky Sports

Hemp double ensures Man City maintain winning start to WSL title defence

Lauren Hemp notched a brace to propel Manchester City to a 4-2 triumph over Liverpool, keeping their Women's Super League championship defence flawless. Hemp initiated the scoring with her first goal since November before Liverpool turned the contest around inside 29 minutes, capitalizing on a backline error for Alice Bergstrom to finish and seeing Vivien Endemann volley past Ayaka Yamashita.

City leveled before the interval when Khadija Shaw pounced on a loose rebound from former teammate Khiara Keating after an initial Hemp strike, representing Shaw's fourth league tally of the campaign.

The contest turned dramatically in the final moments as an own goal conceded by Liverpool skipper Grace Fisk handed the home side a 3-2 lead right at the 90-minute mark. With the visitors overextended in pursuit of an equalizer, Hemp broke clear in the 95th minute to seal the result.

The victory marks City's 14th consecutive home league win, matching the benchmark established by Chelsea between September 2019 and January 2021, with an opportunity to claim the outright record against on Sunday, October 4.