Everton women fall to a narrow defeat in the Women’s League cup, losing 1-0 to Durham at Walton Park. However, academy graduates and debutants put in exciting performances.
The toffees ended their losing streak in the WSL last week with a sublime 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, moving them up to 6th in the league going into 2023.
With their victory in their previous outing, the blues would have been quite confident going into their WLC clash with Durham FC, sitting 2 points ahead of the visitors in their group with 3 matches played.
Durham had narrowly lost their last WLC fixture to Aston Villa so were also looking to bounce back.
Everton would, however, make 9 changes from their win over Spurs, with academy graduates Annie Wilding and Abby Clarke both making the starting lineup and their first team debuts.
Durham would take an early lead through Lily Crosthwaite after a lapse in concentration from the Everton backline.
Christiansen and Beever-Jones would go close for Everton before the break but the home side could not take their many opportunities.
The blues would pick up where they left off in the second half, with Graham and Hardy all coming close to bringing the blues level but with no prevail.
Christensen would get a chance right at the death but be denied brilliantly by McAloon in the Durham goal, handing the visitors all 3 points.
FT. Our final outing for 2022 ends in narrow defeat.
— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) December 17, 2022
🔵 0-1 ⚫️ #EVEDUR pic.twitter.com/byNg3QjB3I
Everton now have a month until their next fixture, with Reading making the trip up to Walton Park after the new year. Sorensen will be hoping to get his side rocking again after an underwhelming cup defeat.