Manchester City suffer WSL title agony despite win at Aston Villa

Manchester City’s hopes of winning the Barclays WSL for the first time in eight years ended in despair at Villa Park. Despite a 2-1 victory on the final day, Gareth Taylor’s side fell at the final hurdle as Chelsea clinched their fifth consecutive league title on goal difference. Mary Fowler opened the scoring before Rachel Daly equalised in the second half. Lauren Hemp poked home the winner late on but it was too little too late as far as the winning the league was concerned.

Manchester City have impressed this season with their notable consistency and goalscoring prowess. Those eye-catching winning streaks, however, will do little to console Taylor’s team who fell short in the final couple of weeks. They will continue to rue the stoppage-time loss to Arsenal just a fortnight previous that gave Chelsea a second chance in the run-in and, on this sunny afternoon in Birmingham, they struggled to put away their chances against a resilient Aston Villa.

Carla Ward, on the other hand, named a strong side for her final game in charge of Aston Villa. Daly captained the team while Alisha Lehmann retained her place in the starting line-up after scoring two in her last two games.It was the visitors who were in control for much of the first half but they failed to take all the chances that fell their way. Villa’s defence were visibly struggling with set pieces and Kennedy rose high but could only direct her header on to the woodwork.

They should have extended their lead before the break when substitute Laura Blindkilde Brown, on for the injured Laura Coombs, drifted into the box. She met the delivery with a sweet volley but could only send it crashing off the frame of the bar.Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings , then Notifications.

As the whistle blew, City’s players dropped to their knees full in the knowledge of how close they came. They will have to settle for second place and European football this time round but they will know strong foundations have been laid for when they return next year.

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