Match reportLFC Women win again with comfortable pre-season victory at Birmingham City

First-half goals from Cornelia Kapocs and Ceri Holland put the Reds in a strong position at the break at Knighthead Performance Centre, before further strikes from substitutes Mao Itamura and Zara Shaw completed the scoring.

It was another positive outing for Gareth Taylor's side with four different scorers, with the team now having won all three of their friendlies so far this summer without conceding a goal.

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The visitors started quickly against the newly promoted Blues and were ahead on six minutes.

Aurélie Csillag did well to keep a half-cleared corner in play and when she fed Kapocs the finish was emphatic off the underside of the bar.

Csillag was again the provider on the quarter hour mark, feeding Vivien Endemann after Liverpool had picked up a loose pass, but the goalkeeper was in good position to save the forward's powerful shot.

The roles were reversed 10 minutes later when Endemann skipped past a challenge to set up Csillag with a perfect cross, but the striker couldn’t quite direct her header on target.

It needed a great block from left-back Alejandra Bernabe to deny a fine opportunity for the hosts to grab a goal back while, at the other end, a fantastic dummy from Endemann allowed her to fire a dangerous ball across the Birmingham goal, but no one could reach it in the middle.

However, Endemann then stood up a perfect cross into the middle three minutes from the break, and Ceri Holland rose well to head home the second.

Four changes at the break for the Reds included Natalia Ramos coming on at centre-back with Alice Bergstrom, Kirsty Maclean and Marie Höbinger also arriving from the bench.

Csillag had the first effort of the second period, latching onto a Kapocs pass, with her shot deflected just wide while the striker had another chance when Holland crossed well but neither she or Bernabe could force it home.

Another round of six substitutes arrived on the hour mark and within 10 minutes Taylor’s side had extended the lead.

Anna Josendal, operating at left-back, crossed and initially fellow substitute Ella Jones looked to be the likely beneficiary. But the ball dropped for Itamura to fire home her third goal of a positive pre-season.

The scoring was completed 10 minutes from the end when Shaw rose at the back post to head home a deep corner from Höbinger.

Ella Jones was denied a fifth by the goalkeeper’s leg within seconds of the restart but the Reds headed home to Merseyside with another solid performance under their belts.

Liverpool will continue their pre-season fixtures with a trip to face Manchester United at Carrington Training Centre on Sunday.

Team

Liverpool: Keating (Kirby, 60), Kerr (Bergstrom, 46), Bernabe (Josendal, 60), Clark (Shaw, 60), Agrez (Ramos, 46), Breen, Nagano (Höbinger, 46), Endemann (Maclean, 46), Holland (V. Jones, 60), Csillag, Kapocs (E. Jones, 60).