Man City 2-0 Barcelona: Naomi Layzell dazzles in dominant European win

Naomi Layzell spent last season playing centre back for Bristol City, who finished bottom of the Women’s Super League.

The prospect of lining up against Barcelona in the Champions League was merely a pipe dream.

But fast forward 12 months and Layzell produced a performance for the history books, scoring and assisting as Manchester City stunned European champions Barcelona.

Layzell, who is a centre back by trade but starred at right back on Wednesday, opened the scoring in the 36th minute, then picked out Bunny Shaw with an exceptional pass for the second goal 12 minutes from time.

The defender has trained with the Lionesses before but is yet to be included in a squad. With England boss Sarina Wiegman watching on from the stands, there is every chance Layzell will be in her thoughts ahead of her squad announcement for friendlies against Germany and South Africa later this month. 

But, that may depend on whether the defender is fit enough, with the youngster limping off with an innocuous-looking injury in added time.

The decision to start Layzell, who had not scored a senior goal before Wednesday evening, was a bold one by City boss Gareth Taylor. He cannot have had a better night during his four years at the helm than this.

His side made Barca look average, the Catalan side unable to cope with their opponents intense pressing.

This was the first Champions League group game the Citizens have ever played, with the club having been knocked out in qualifying in 2021 and 2022 before failing to qualify for last season’s competition.

But this was a performance worth waiting for.

Barca’s best chance came when Caroline Graham Hansen hit the post early on. Lauren Hemp then hit the woodwork for City at the other end.

While they occasionally looked vulnerable when playing out from the back, with Laia Aleixandri making a superb block on the line to deny Ewa Pajor, City were by far the better team in the first half.

The hosts pressed their opponents all over the pitch and had opportunities to score through Vivianne Miedema, Jess Park, Hemp and Bunny Shaw. But their reward came from an unlikely source.

An in-swinging corner from Mary Fowler was met by Miedema at the back-post and Layzell was there to slide in and send the ball past Cata Coll.

City were worthy of their half-time lead but had to contend with a sustained period of Barca pressure at the start of the second.

But they defended with grit and determination before doubling their lead in the 78th minute. Layzell won the ball on the right and played a superb through ball to Shaw, who held off two defenders before rounding Coll to finish into an empty net.

It was a contrasting night for the other English team competing on Wednesday, with Arsenal thrashed 5-2 by Bayern Munich.

It is a scoreline that heaps pressure on boss Jonas Eidevall, who faced criticism from supporters and Gunners legend Ian Wright following a 0-0 draw with Everton on Sunday.

The Gunners had taken the lead through Mariona Caldentey on the half hour mark but were pegged back by a Glodis Viggosdottir header just before the break.

Sydney Lohmann then beat Manuela Zinsberger at her near post to put the hosts ahead but Laia Codina’s header drew Arsenal level in the 65th minute.

But an astonishing 13-minute hat-trick from former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder sealed victory for the German side.

It was an embarrassing second half collapse from Arsenal, who face a huge game with WSL rivals Chelsea at the Emirates on Saturday.