London City Lionesses beat Man United to open WSL season with statement result

[p]Backed by billionaire American businesswoman Michelle Kang, the London-based [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/london-city-lionesses/Qyn18a5D/"]Lionesses[/a] have spent big to bring in two-time [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ballone-andrea/hEPF3PjU/"]Ballon d'Or[/a] winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/putellas-alexia/ChQLd9ci/"]Putellas[/a] as well as ex-England goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/earps-mary/IsFSwJIa/"]Mary Earps[/a] and French winger [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diani-kadidiatou/Q3WjSC52/"]Kadidiatou Diani[/a] alongside a cast of other top female players.[/p][p]Only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/8CKOoQdn/"]Arsenal[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/Q7Hu2UDD/"]Chelsea[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/bcOx8Zz6/"]Manchester City[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/Ye260xTF/"]Liverpool[/a] have ever won the WSL title, but that is Kang's ambition in just the Lionesses' second season in the top flight.[/p][p]Last season they finished sixth behind the established top five of City, Chelsea, Arsenal, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/4EeCFcxJ/"]Manchester United[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/zJscgDii/"]Tottenham[/a].[/p][p]On the evidence of the opening night, a new force of the women's game could be emerging at a stadium which holds just 6,000 spectators in Bromley, south-west London.[/p][embed guid="7c559f10-61a7-4af6-86c2-322cccb220e2" url="https://x.com/LC_Lionesses/status/2095964838094626836?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]An early own goal from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zigiotti-olme-julia/KMk5HvGc/"]Julia Zigiotti[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/london-city-lionesses-Qyn18a5D/manchester-utd-4EeCFcxJ/?mid=2HqSDgA4"]gave the home side the perfect start[/a].[/p][p]With Putellas pulling the strings the Lionesses dominated but had to wait until eight minutes from time to score a second when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-de-donk-danielle/nNb8ZkDF/"]Danielle van de Donk[/a] brilliantly backheeled into the far corner.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/awujo-simi/tlg2zg5I/"]Simi Awujo[/a] grabbed a consolation for United with virtually the last kick of the game.[/p][p]But it did not spoil the first of what could be many nights of celebration for Kang's project to revolutionise women's football.[/p]