The playmaker was superb again as Gareth Taylor's side finished their tour of Australia with a loss to the French outfit
For Manchester City, Sunday was a case of remembering that pre-season is not all about results, as their tour of Australia ended in a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. The Cityzens were the better side throughout and really took the game to one of Europe's elite teams, but regularly found outstanding goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek in their way before Jennifer Echegini scored a late penalty to win the game.
Jess Park, Khadija Shaw and Laura Blindkilde Brown were among those in blue to be left frustrated by the excellence of Kiedrzynek in the first half of the final match of the Perth International Football Cup, the Poland international producing some fantastic saves to show that England star Mary Earps will have to be on top form to earn the No.1 shirt at the French club. Shaw had some frustration to direct the way of the referee, too, after seeing strong penalty appeals waved away following a clumsy challenge from Eva Gaetino.
PSG did start to get into the game towards the end of the first half, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto having a shot blocked, Sakina Karchaoui going close and Paulina Dudek prodding just wide after a corner turned into a goalmouth scramble. However, City remained the dominant side after the break, Kiedrzynek producing some more top saves to thwart Lauren Hemp and Shaw.
Echegini, though, gave the City defence plenty to think about after coming on at half-time. A good run down the right troubled the English side, even if her shot from an angle could only hit the side-netting, and young Naomi Layzell needed to position herself well to block a shot from the Nigeria international just before the hour, too. While her game-winning goal wouldn't come from any of this lively play, instead from a penalty conceded when Kerstin Casparij fouled Tara Elimbi Gilbert in the 86th minute, Echegini's cool conversion from 12 yards only added to her impressive performance.
There was a good chance late on for City to level the scores and take it to penalties, but Chloe Kelly's effort fizzed agonisingly wide just seconds before the whistle went for full-time.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from HBF Park…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Jess Park
After a good performance against Leicester on Wednesday, Park once again gave Taylor plenty to ponder with her display on Sunday. The England star brings so much energy to the table, her pressing is a real nuisance for any opponent and a fantastic asset for Man City, as she is able to regularly win the ball back in good areas to get the team on the front foot quickly.
Most would expect summer signing Vivianne Miedema to start in that No.10 role just behind Shaw, to create a dual goal-scoring threat that any opposition will struggle to deal with. However, the Dutchwoman will not bring the tenacious, battling qualities to the role that Park can, and City do lose something when she isn't on the pitch.
Is there a way that Taylor can accommodate both? That would likely be by sitting Park next to Yui Hasegawa in the deeper areas in midfield, or playing the Japan star as a single pivot and pushing the former up a little higher to get the benefits of her energy further forward. The question is whether or not that would be a strong enough midfield, in terms of defensive qualities, against top sides. Either way, Park has certainly given Taylor plenty to think about.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: The attack
There have been a ton of positives for City to take from their time in Australia. As well as all the standard benefits of game time, team cohesion and so on, the club's summer signings have integrated themselves well, some fringe players have really staked a claim for places and a large handful of young academy talents have certainly shown what they can offer. The one big negative, though, has to be that neither game played in Perth has resulted in a City goal.
It doesn't necessarily raise huge concerns over the quality in attack because there have been good performers in those areas and plenty of chances were certainly created, especially against PSG. One also has to take into account the inspired performance of Kiedrzynek on Sunday, who was unbeatable.
However, to have not found the back of the net in either game will surely be frustrating for the players, as they look to build that confidence and rhythm in attack ahead of the new season.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Naomi Layzell
While not many questioned the quality of signing when City announced the arrival of Naomi Layzell last month, plenty pondered just how much the young defender will play in this star-studded team. Alex Greenwood has locked down one of the spots in central defence, with Layzell then joining Australia international Alanna Kennedy, Spain's Laia Aleixandri and emerging academy talent Gracie Prior in the battle to play alongside her.
The 20-year-old has spent the last four years marking herself out as one of the best young players in England, establishing herself as a starter at Bristol City before choosing to take on a new challenge this summer. How will she handle the step up from a team that was relegated from the WSL this year, to one that was battling for the title? Quite well, Sunday suggested.
On at the break for Greenwood, before Prior replaced Kennedy to partner her just 15 minutes later, Layzell didn't look lost without that senior centre-back next to her. She was composed on the ball, even when under pressure in dangerous areas, and showed good awareness to thwart Echegini in a promising position for PSG. There might still be questions around how much game time she gets, but Layzell hardly looks out of her depth.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Laura Coombs
Though City took a quality squad out to Australia for this pre-season tour, there were a number of senior players who missed out due to injury. Sandy MacIver and Jill Roord are coming back from ACL ruptures, summer signing Risa Shimizu picked up a knee problem during the Olympics and Tara O'Hanlon and Laura Coombs were particularly unlucky, as both were unable to travel due to what Taylor described as "slight niggles".
It's been a real blow for Coombs especially to be absent, because while she hasn't been able to stake her claim for a starting role in midfield, the players she is going to be competing with there have really caught the eye. Hasegawa has long nailed down the spot at the base of that trio, Blindkilde Brown and Park have really impressed in Perth, and Miedema, likely to be in there too, is quickly getting up to speed.
There is plenty of time until the new season starts, with City in action on September 18 or 19 in Champions League qualifying before the Women's Super League begins a few days later, and so there will be chances for Coombs to make her case ahead of that competitive action, if she can recover from that niggle quickly. Still, she has no doubt lost out this week while her fellow midfielders have been able to star on tour.