Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw became the first City player to reach 100 goals as the Blues beat Aston Villa 6-1 to earn a tenth successive WSL win.
The Jamaican opened the scoring with a clinical finish from Vivianne Miedema’s cross to make City history, before doubling her tally on the stroke of half-time.
Aoba Fujino made it three with a vicious effort on the counter-attack, and Lucy Parker’s headed goal was soon cancelled out by a Vivianne Miedema tap-in to make it 4-1, before Shaw completed grabbed two more late on.
It means City sign off for 2025 in the WSL with ten wins and a six-point cushion at the league’s summit.
What happened
City were looking to end 2025 on a high in the WSL, but knew we’d be tested by a well-drilled Villa side, and the visitors had the better of the game in the early stages.
Rachel Daly was inches from tapping home a dangerous ball across the face of the City goal inside five minutes, before strong calls for a penalty were waved away after a tangle between Chastity Grant and Rebecca Knaak.
But City sprung into life midway through the half, with Sabrina D’Angelo palming away a vicious Shaw effort around 25 minutes.
There was nothing she could do about the opener though, with Miedema’s teasing ball across goal met by Shaw, who confidently side-footed into the far corner.
A goal created by the WSL’s all-time leading scorer and put away by the first player to score 100 for the Club.
But Shaw wasn’t done there, and she doubled her tally for the afternoon in typically emphatic fashion.
Picking up play from Yui Hasegawa, the Jamaican cut the ball back onto her right foot and curled an unstoppable drive through a crowd of bodies and into the far corner in first half stoppage time.
City continued to push for a third, with D’Angelo saving brilliantly from Lauren Hemp and Shaw inside 10 minutes of the restart before an offside flag denied Miedema when she put the ball home on the hour, but number three followed on the hour.
Miedema grabbed her second assist of the game with an exquisite ball in behind to Fujino, with the winger racing into the area and rifling home to put the game out of sight.
Villa pulled one back with 20 to play when Parker rose highest to head home from a corner, but City responded inside three minutes when Miedema was in the right place at the right time to tap home Fujino’s cross.
But on a special afternoon for the Jamaican, it was Shaw who had the final say as she raced through and confidently stroked home to complete her treble late on.
She then added a fourth and final goal to her tally in stoppage time, guiding home Grace Clinton’s effort through a crowd of bodies to make it six.
Shaw’s special century
There’d been a lot of talk about Shaw’s rapidly approaching 100-goal milestone, and the Jamaican achieved it in style.
She’s now on 12 for the season in the WSL and once again leads the scoring charts as she chases a third successive Golden Boot.
Casparij makes 100 appearances
Bunny wasn’t the only player celebrating a special milestone, as Kerstin Casparij became the latest City star to make a century of appearances.
The Dutch international has led the team admirably in the absence of Alex Greenwood, and was given a deservedly raucous reception by the City fans when her name was announced.
Ten in a row
City have now won ten WSL matches in a row, and are unbeaten in 13 in all competitions.
We go into the winter break with a six-point cushion on second-placed Chelsea as the league’s highest scorers.A special way to end 2025 in the WSL!
How we lined up
CITY XI: Yamashita, Rose, Knaak, Ouahabi (Greenwood 65’), Casparij (C), Blindkilde Brown (Clinton 65’), Hasegawa, Hemp (Kerolin 65’), Fujino (Beney 76’), Miedema (Lohmann 85’), Shaw
Subs: Cumings, Coombs, Prior, Murphy
VILLA XI: D’Angelo, Patten, Daly (C), Hijikata (Kearns 59’), Parker (Deslandes 71’), Maritz, Hanson (Mullett 59’), Kendall (Staniforth 70’), Grant, Taylor, Maltby (Tomas 46’)
Subs: Roebuck, Mayling, Salmon, Sallaway
Up next
City are in League Cup quarter-final action for our final match of 2025, travelling to West Ham United on Sunday 21 December.
Kick-off is set for 13:00 (UK) at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
News about Man City v Aston Villa
Shaw becomes City’s first centurion
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has become the first women’s player to score 100 goals for Manchester City in our professional era.
Read more
QUIZ: Bunny Shaw’s 100 City goals
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has become the first women’s player in Manchester City’s history to score 100 goals!
Read more
View publisher imprintShare this article
