Everton’s opening game of the Women’s League Cup ended in a 3-1 defeat against a strong Manchester City side at the Joie Stadium.
Jade Rose broke the deadlock in the 21st minute before Yui Hasegawa and Vivianne Miedema extended the hosts’ advantage in the second half.
Hikaru Kitagawa then pulled one back for the Blues with a stunning curling strike on her Everton debut.
With Courtney Brosnan out through injury, Emily Ramsey was trusted between the sticks, beginning the night with a fine save inside 20 minutes to deny Bunny Shaw from close range.
However, the hosts’ pressure soon told when Rose capitalised on Leila Ouahabi’s whipped ball. Yellow shirts tried to clear, but the Canadian was quickest to react as she scrambled her effort into the bottom left corner.
The opener seemed to spark a positive response from the visitors, with a bundle of opportunities coming their way afterwards.
Ornella Vignola was the first to test the City defence, finding herself in an opportunistic position after breaking free from Rose and striding towards goal, but her final touch ran away from her, allowing the goal-scorer to block her goal-bound strike.
The Toffee’s maintained their momentum with chances for Rosa Van Gool, whose strike from the edge of the box was well held by Eartha Cummings and Honoka Hayashi, who was inches away from turning Vignola’s cross home minutes later, seeing her effort fly over the bar.
Katie Robinson had the last chance before the break, narrowly missing the target after riffling a powerful shot towards goal.
In the 47th minute, a poignant tribute saw the Joie Stadium unite to remember the late Matt Beard – a pioneer of the women’s game, admired and loved across football.
Eight minutes after the interval, Hasegawa added a second, capitalising on a defensive error from Ramsey and slotting home from close range.
Miedema took the game even further away from Everton in the 77th minute when she headed home at the back-post, latching onto Iman Beney’s cross.
Everton grabbed a consolation goal when substitute Kitagawa marked her debut with a moment of quality, curling into the far corner with seven minutes remaining.
The Blues return to action on Sunday, when they travel to the Broadfield Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the WSL.
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