Scott Phelan praised the impact of Everton Women’s substitutions in the weekend’s game away at London City Lionesses, but a first goal for Hannah Cain was not enough to prevent defeat at the hands of London City Lionesses.
First-half strikes from Delphine Cascarino and Freya Godfrey gave the hosts the lead at the interval, as the Blues struggled to get to grips with Eder Maestre’s side.
Cain’s header from a Holly McNamara cross on 71 minutes following good work from Aurora Galli gave the Toffees hope,
but the hosts hung on to claim three points and leave Everton winless on the road this season.
And Phelan was quick to praise the impact of the trio of second-half changes of Cain, Galli and Noumie Mouchon, all of whom will be pushing for a start this Wednesday.
“When they come on the pitch they had the spirit about them and that is what we want,” said the Toffees head coach.
“They made a big impact; Yaya (Galli) jumped highest for the goal and we ended up with Holly crossing for Hannah, who scored, and obviously Hannah had come on too.
“And Noemie was full of running when she came on.
“They were really impactful and they helped us change the momentum of the game.”
The starting XI featured of number internationals, including Courtney Brosnan, who also captained the side, fresh off the back of keeping consecutive clean sheets with the Republic of Ireland, while Australian duo Clare Wheeler and McNamara were also amongst the starters afetr both netting for Australia over the break.
Elsewhere, Jutta Rantala was named in the matchday squad for the first time since arriving on Merseyside in the summer, as the Blues looked the brighter of the two sides in the early going.
But despite the bright start, Daniëlle van de Donk registered the first chance when she fired over from the edge of the box, which was a portent of things to come for Phelan’s team.
And the Dutch midfielder was instrumental in London’s opening goal, the 35-year-old backheeled into the path of Cascarino, who finished past Brosnan on 24 minutes.
Ten minutes later Godfrey made it two. Collecting the ball near the halfway line, the forward was afforded too much room and picked her spot from 20-yards out to double the hosts’ advantage.
Everton offered little as the half drew to a close although McNamara came close, but the Australian star saw her effort deflected wide by the retreating Elena Linari.
With the Toffees still behind and second best as the game past the hour mark, Phelan looked to his bench for a spark, as Cain, Mouchon and Galli replaced Ornella Vignola, Rosa van Gool and Wheeler in the 63rd minute.
And the changes produced the desired effect as Cain netted her first goal for the club eight minutes later. Fellow substitute Galli spread it to McNamara, who produced a pinpoint cross that was headed home by the advancing Wales international.
Kadidiatou Diani thought she had restored her side’s two-goal lead with seven minutes remaining, but the linesman’s flag ruled out the goal, then seconds later the visitors thought they should have been awarded a penalty.
Mouchon had streteched the hosts’ backline since her introduction, and the forward charged into the box before going down after what looked like contact from Linari.
Despite the appeals, the referee was unmoved.
Noami Layzell – one of the team’s better performers – caused Maestre to panic minutes later when her header came agonisingly close to finding when the met 22-year-old met Galli’s corner from the right.
But the London boss could breathe a sigh of relief after two minutes of injury time concluded, leaving Phelan with some big decisions to make as the fixtures are set to come quick during October.
And the first of the remaining four in this month start with a midweek clash with Newcastle United, who travel to Goodison Park on Wednesday night in the Subway Players’ Cup.
