Khadija Shaw had little to no service when Manchester City visited Hammarby in the Champions League on Thursday night – but for the very best strikers, that sometimes doesn’t even matter. This was one of those occasions, as the Jamaica star scored twice on a chilly night in Stockholm to secure a 2-1 win for the Cityzens that also ensured passage through to the quarter-finals of the competition, with two group stage games to spare.
Out for a positive result in order to keep their own hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive, Hammarby showed stronger glimpses in the first half, albeit without really testing Khiara Keating in the away goal. Once Shaw had broken the deadlock just past the half hour mark, with the aid of a huge deflection, the Swedes knew that would need to change if they were to get something from this game.
It did early in the second half too, as Hammarby sliced through a sloppy City defence to level the scores within just three minutes of the restart, Ellen Wangerheim getting the final touch. But after a truly astonishing double save from Keating, there was still plenty of time left for another moment of magic from Shaw. A woman in real form, just four minutes after Hammarby got back into the contest, she sucked the air out of the stadium, sidestepping a defender on the edge of the box before thumping the ball into the top corner, to ultimately decide the affair and send her team into the last eight.
GOAL rates Man City’s players from the Stockholm Arena…