LONDON – Reggae Girl Atlanta Primus was on target as leaders London City Lionesses produced a dominant first-half performance to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the second-tier English FA Women’s Championship on Sunday.
Sarah Ewens broke the deadlock for London City in the 27th minute, volleying a dangerous cross from Lois Joel onto the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.
It only took the Lionesses four minutes to double their lead, with 25-year-old forward Primus curling a low effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Lily Agg marked her 50th appearance for London City moments later, pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area and beating goalkeeper Claudia Moan with a driven shot as the hosts reached half-time three up.
London City controlled the tempo after the break, with goalkeeper Shae Yanez rarely called into action.
While London City continued to dictate the play, the Black Cats found their way onto the scoresheet after 70 minutes courtesy of a thunderous strike from Liz Ejupi.
However, the hosts retained their composure to close out an important win that saw them extend their lead at the top of the Women’s Championship to three points over Bristol City, who host the Lionesses on Wednesday, but from a game more.
Bristol City, whose line-up includes Primus’ Jamaica team-mate Shania Hayles, lost ground on the leaders when they could manage only a goalless draw at Blackburn on Sunday.
“We’ve had a couple of weeks building to this game,” said interim head coach Nikita Runnacle after Sunday’s win.
“We knew how important it was to start this week on a positive [note] with Bristol City on Wednesday and that was an excellent performance from the girls.
“The first-half was phenomenal, we really kept them on their backfoot and created some really promising chances. There are lots of reflections from the second-half and the goal we conceded, but it was a very good performance overall.”
CMC
