Gareth Taylor: We deserved that point - I'm really proud of how the players performed
Gareth Taylor took pride in his team’s spirit and style as Liverpool FC Women grabbed a late 2-2 draw against London City Lionesses.
The Reds had led in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League clash courtesy of a Beata Olsson penalty kick.
But the visitors took advantage of mistakes at the back to get themselves 2-1 up ahead of the interval at St Helens Stadium.
Amid the tricky weather conditions, Taylor’s team continued to play their game and were on top for the majority of the second period.
And they got the minimum their efforts deserved when Jana Fernandez conceded an own goal two minutes into added time at the end.
Read the head coach’s post-match reaction, speaking to Sky Sports, below.
On whether he felt it was a point Liverpool deserved…
Yeah, we did. Because of the way we played and the way we stuck to our principles of play in difficult conditions. I thought we were outstanding in some parts of the game. We made errors; of course, we gifted them two goals and we need to be better at that, because sometimes you don’t get back in the game.
I think if we eliminate those errors today, we looked pretty dominant. We know they have good players but I felt like we really controlled the game, particularly the second half. I thought [Fuka] Nagano and [Kirsty] Maclean, backed up by Fisky [Grace Fisk] and Jenna Clark, were sensational.
On there being ‘a change of momentum and luck’…
Hopefully. It’s so difficult, because we’re really kind of limited at the top end of the pitch. We know that Viv [Endemann] is probably not going to last the full game. I thought Kappy [Cornelia Kapocs] was excellent when she goes to the right, produces that moment for us [for the equaliser]. We’re heavily stocked with defenders and young players on the bench who are probably not at this moment able to go into a game like that, so we’re really limited in the changes we can make.
I’m just really pleased for the players today because I thought they really deserved that for the way we stuck to our principles. In really difficult conditions as well; you know, you’re asking them to play football in that. Fair play, we really, really did and I’m super-proud of the team.
On the squad digging in to get a result after a big game in midweek too…
For sure. It just shows the character and the personality in the team. We kept going. It’s really easy for me to say now but I definitely believe I would say the same things as what I said to the players at the end in the huddle, which was ‘really proud of the way we played’ – even if we’d come away without a point.
We know, and I’ve mentioned to them, we have to eliminate the errors, because all London City did first half was put us under a bit of pressure. They sat off more against us in the second half and we controlled the game. So we know we need to improve in areas; definitely the final bit, definitely eliminating errors. But the bits in between is something we’ve really worked on and the players are executing really well.
