Eagles humbled 4-0 by Bristol City

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By football reporter

Bristol City's 21-year-old skipper Aimee Palmer scored as her side ran out convincing 4-0 winners against Crystal Palace in the FA Women's Championship.

An extremely eventful first 45 minutes saw Chloe Bull and Abi Harrison grab a goal each to put their side in a commanding position ahead of the second half.

Captain fantastic Palmer scored early after the break to make before Harrison rounded things off ten minutes from full time.

The Eagles got off to the worst possible start, conceding within a minute when Bull found the back of the net following a superb pass from 27-year-old Gwenan Davies.

And the Robins doubled their lead just 14 minutes later when Harrison's shot beat Emily Orman in the Palace goal to give her side a lot to do with 75 minutes remaining.

Palace recovered from the difficult start and were able to limit City to scraps for much of the remainder of the first half.

Nonetheless, it could have been 3-0 five minutes before the break when Harrison drove into the box and found Ffion Morgan, but the Welsh star's strike was blocked.

When Palmer subsequently scored Bristol's third from one of her trademark corner routines it appeared that the game was all but over for Palace, then Harrison added to the damage with ten minutes remaining.

The Eagles still displayed resilience until the final whistle, with Orman making a few outstanding stops for the visitors.

To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage, visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com

Crystal Palace (3-4-3): Emily Orman; Gracie Pearse, Annabel Johnson (c), Lizzie Waldie; Leanne Cowan, Aimee Everett, Bianca Baptiste, Siobhan Wilson; Kirsty Barton, Molly-Mae Sharpe, Sophie McLean

Substitutes: A Hennessy for Sharpe 78’, Clifford for Barton 78’, Smith for Baptiste 65’, Churchill for McLean 65’

Substitutes not used: Hope Smith, Grace Coombs, Coral-Jade Haines, Isabella Sibley, Leigh Nicol

Goals:

Bookings: Aimee Everett 38’,

Bristol City Women: (4-3-3): Fran Bentley, Ella Powell, Naomi Layzell, Brooke Aspin; Aimee Palmer; Abi Harrison, Melissa Johnson; Chloe Bull; Ffion Morgan; Satara Murray

Substitutes: Beever-Jones for Morgan 64’, Cataldo for Aspin 64’, Jhamat for Bull

Substitutes not used: Sophie Whitehouse, Ava Kuyken, Flo Allen, Maisy Collis, Izzy Cook

Goals: Chloe Bull 1’, Abi Harrison 15’, Aimee Palmer 54’, Abi Harrison 82’

Bookings: Brooke Aspin 30’, Aimee Palmer 80’