London City Lionesses claim vital 3-1 win over Sunderland A.F.C.

London City Lionesses, versus Sunderland A.F.C. (Image: thoughtsofawing)

London City Lionesses added another win to their tally in the Barclays Women’s Championship with a dominant performance and 3-1 victory versus Sunderland A.F.C.

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 three minutes to double their lead, with Atlanta 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 Claudia Moan with a driven shot.

London City controlled the tempo after the break, with goalkeeper Shae Yanez rarely called into action.

Nikita Runnacles turned to her bench for the first time shortly after the hour-mark, with transfer deadline day signing Kyra Carusa replacing Ewens.

While London City continued to dictate the play, the Black Cats were able to find their way onto the scoresheet after 70 minutes courtesy of a thunderous strike from Liz Ejupi.

However, the Lionesses refused to let a moment of brilliance eat away at their confidence. They retained their composure in the final stages to close out an all-important win that saw them extend their lead at the top of the Women's Championship.

“We’ve had a couple of weeks building to this game,” explained interim head coach Runnacles. “We knew how important it was to start this week on a positive 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.”