Liverpool FC Women manager Vicky Jepson couldn't hide her delight at seeing her team close the gap at the top of the FA Women's Championship after a resounding 4-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
With a limited number of supporters back at Prenton Park, the Reds delivered a brilliant display in their final home game of 2020.
Rinsola Babajide netted twice, with Amy Rodgers and Amalie Thestrup also on the mark.
Read on for Jepson's thoughts on the performance and an open 2020-21 title race...
On the 4-0 win over Palace and the return of the supporters…
It was a great day for the club. It was just fantastic to hear our fans. It’s quite tough because they can only come here if they live in the Liverpool City Region, but no matter how many turned up we could certainly hear them. It’s just great to have the fans back at the game and I’m really pleased with the team’s performance. A clean sheet and four really good team goals.
On getting the early goal in the opening two minutes…
That’s the best start I’ve seen from us. I knew they were focused going into this game. It was great link-up play between Furney and Rins and I think that’s the best I’ve seen from us in the final third linking up. In the second half it got a little bit scrappy. But certainly the way we applied ourselves in possession in the final third and making the runs in behind, it was great. Rins got two goals, so I know she’ll be delighted and to see Amalie get back on the scoresheet was great. So it was good day for us.
On Rodgers returning to the starting XI and scoring…
I think when you’ve been out for so long injured you can’t wait for your moment to get back out there. We managed her minutes when she came on against Everton and we managed her minutes in this game because she could only play for 60 minutes. I’m really delighted for her because she’s just so professional and she’s such a positive character. She’s just a really nice girl, so she deserves moments like that. You saw all of the team going to Amy and celebrating because that’s how much her teammates think of her. I was up off my seat and everybody else was because it was such a well-taken goal – and the cliché saying of 'you don’t shoot, you don’t score', well that’s what happens when you take your chances. I’m delighted for Amy and I’m sure her family is too.
On Thestrup netting a fine goal…
She came on due to Ashley Hodson picking up an injury and her intensity press in and out of possession was really good. I’m glad she got the reward for the effort that she puts in. It’s always tough for a striker when you are not finding the back of the net, but she creates so much off the ball that some people don’t see. So for Amalie to get her goal, I’m really pleased for her and hopefully there’s more to come.
On Babajide delighting the fans with a goal right at the end of the game…
Credit to Crystal Palace, they put bodies on the line and we could have scored a lot more goals. The fans were chanting Rins' name wanting her to score again and she obliged. I’m really happy and I said to the players in the huddle, it’s about coming together now. Now we focus on our next game, which is London City Lionesses next Sunday, and that will be our next challenge.
On Durham being held by Blackburn and the Reds going just two points behind new league leaders Leicester City…
A season is a marathon and it’s not a sprint. People may have said we aren’t going to do it, but there’s a long way to go yet and we have a strong belief. If we keep performing like that and keep clean sheets then I have every belief that we can do it. But we just focus game by game and whatever happens around us with teams dropping points, that’s their issue and not ours. We have just got to concentrate and win our own race.
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