The battle is on for Earps and Miedema rest – lessons from the preparation | Women’s football

Success for Earps – but is a battle looming?

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps said she wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain mainly to win more trophies. A few months later, she has already won some minor trophies with the French club, after they won the Perth International Football Cup friendly 1-0 against Manchester City.

However, Sunday’s final served largely to prove that the England keeper has a serious fight on her hands to claim the permanent No.1 shirt at PSG, after team-mate Katarzyna Kiedrzynek produced save after save to keep Manchester City at bay. Earps had enjoyed a solid display, keeping a clean sheet in their 1-0 semi-final win over West Ham on Thursday, but the Polish keeper was given the nod for the final and frustrated the English side.

Kiedrzynek was outstanding as she saved a deflected shot from Jess Park, bravely prevented another goal by saving at the feet of Jamaican striker Khadija Shaw and stopping Mary Fowler’s follow-up, and also expertly denied Laura Blindkilde Brown when one-on-one in a match that Manchester City could have won comfortably. Instead, Jennifer Echegini’s late penalty gave PSG a 1-0 victory.

Manchester City’s encouraging form

Despite the defeat, Manchester City will look back on their performance against one of last season’s Champions League semi-finalists in a very positive light. Their midfield dominated the game and it was the excellent passing of deep-lying midfielder Yui Hasegawa that dictated the game and ensured that City controlled the ball for long periods. Their attacking football will have entertained the 15,091 crowd in Perth.

The Women’s Super League team had 69% of the ball possession and should have been awarded a penalty for a clear foul in the box on Shaw in the first half. Gareth Taylor’s side had six shots on target to PSG’s two and will know they were the stronger side going into the final stages of the game, when both teams had made a series of substitutions to practice some pre-season experimentation and rotation.

Welcome selection headache for Taylor

Taylor gave his No.1 keeper from last season, Khiara Keating, and new summer signing Ayaka Yamashita, one start each during their trip to Perth, rotating them at half-time to give both goalkeepers 45 minutes of each game. Neither did much wrong and the impressive work on the ball from Japanese keeper Yamashita when in possession will certainly have given Taylor food for thought ahead of his team’s opening WSL match away to Arsenal on September 22.

Last season’s WSL Golden Glove Award winner Keating was sent the wrong way by Echegini’s 88th-minute penalty on Sunday after watching Yamashita save two penalties in Wednesday’s semi-final shootout win over Leicester. After that match ended goalless, Yamashita had her hands on both Yuka Momiki and Sophie Howard’s spot kicks.

In attack, Taylor also looks set to have a tricky – but welcome – selection headache. Young Japanese forward Aoba Fujino has made a bright start, flashing her qualities when coming off the bench twice in Perth, while England’s Chloe Kelly and Australian star Fowler are also vying for positions in a formidable front three that will surely include Shaw and Lauren Hemp.

Miedema’s minutes are managed

Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema will also provide a world-class option in attack, but the all-time WSL record scorer was left out of City’s matchday squad on Sunday. However, club sources insisted Miedema was not injured and her minutes were merely being managed to carefully build up her fitness during pre-season.

Still, her absence will have disappointed some City fans, especially after Miedema’s brilliant performance as a late substitute against Leicester on Wednesday. The 28-year-old hit the crossbar soon after coming on and was then bizarrely denied a penalty when she was brought down in the penalty area by keeper Lize Kop in the closing stages. Undeterred, Miedema stepped up to score and confidently convert the decisive penalty in the shootout.

Miquel’s ‘M’s make an impression

That narrow defeat for Leicester was just the start of a confidence-building journey for the East Midlands club. Under new manager Amandine Miquel, they showed immediate improvement and their journey was capped off with a resounding 5-2 win over West Ham.

Leicester’s summer signing Noémie Mouchon, the French youth international signed from Miquel’s former club Reims, showed all the hallmarks of an effective WSL striker, making dangerous runs and taking her goal against West Ham with composure and skill. Leicester fans will be hoping she can prove to be one of the finds of the transfer window.

Momiki’s footwork and intricate through balls, as well as a promising performance from former Manchester City defensive midfielder Ruby Mace, gave Leicester a strong-looking backbone behind Mouchon. The energetic and adventurous runs of Missy Goodwin – who also got on the scoreboard – will have given Foxes fans huge encouragement for the season as they dismantled a team that finished just one place below them in the WSL last season. Momiki, Sam Tierney and Saori Takarada completed Leicester’s goals.

As for West Ham, their defensive weaknesses were all too apparent and Rehanne Skinner’s team looked a little out of step. There’s no need to panic, with three weeks of pre-season still to go, and they’ll be somewhat encouraged by Viviane Asseyi’s late double, but it was a worryingly one-sided game from West Ham’s point of view.