Reaction'From a young fan to playing this many LFC games... I'm extremely proud'
It was both a proud and victorious afternoon for Gemma Bonner on Sunday.
The Liverpool FC Women defender helped her side register a 2-1 victory over Leicester City Women as they returned to action after an international break.
Melissa Lawley had put the Reds in front shortly after the interval at Prenton Park but the Foxes soon levelled and the Barclays Women’s Super League clash looked to be heading for a draw.
Three points were secured for Liverpool courtesy of Marie Höbinger’s third strike of the season, however, with the Austria international tucking home from Mia Enderby’s assist in minute 84.
On a personal level, the occasion was extra-special for Bonner, who equalled Ashley Hodson’s club-record 134 appearances for the Reds in the WSL era.
“It’s obviously a special achievement, one I’m extremely proud of,” the No.23 said after the final whistle.
“Being a supporter of the club from such a young girl to playing this many times, it’s an achievement that I’ll probably look back on and be really proud of.
“I’m grateful. I just try to be the best I can be every day, try to improve and contribute to the team as much as I can.”
Analysing the match, which brought a third win in five WSL fixtures this term for Matt Beard’s side, Bonner said: “I think it was probably a bit scrappy, but we knew that coming into the game.
“Leicester have been in good form, likewise have we, and we knew we’d have to fight first and foremost today. We ground out the result.
“First half, we probably could have scored a few more chances. We’ve had Mel come back from injury and she had a terrific game, I think it shows she brings us that little bit extra in the final third, and I think she thoroughly deserved her goal.
“Obviously then they have come back into the game and we had to show another side of us to go and get that second goal. Towards the end the girls really dug in and we deserved the win today.”
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Liverpool will be quickly back at Prenton Park as Manchester City visit in the Continental League Cup group stage on Wednesday night.
Beard’s charges then travel south to face Tottenham Hotspur in the WSL on Sunday.
“Obviously Man City are a top side, we know what they’ll bring, it’ll probably be a very different test to what we came up against today,” said Bonner.
“The beauty of it is now that we’ve got such strength in depth in our squad. We’ve got a big week: obviously play today, Wednesday and away next weekend. You can see the strength of the squad coming on, we had Shanice [van de Sanden] back in the squad again today.
“The competitiveness in the group is really strong and I think the spirit is good as well. Taking it into the next two games will be vitally important.”
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.