Goals from Khadija Shaw and Lauren Hemp helped Manchester City to escape from Bromley with three points after a thrilling encounter with London City Lionesses . It was a statement performance from the home team, despite the defeat delivering a blow to any title ambitions they may have been quietly holding on to before kick-off.

The gap between the hosts and the champions is now six points, after Hemp restored City’s lead following Jana Fernández’s equaliser. But that London City had even played their way into conversations about this season’s title contenders in their second season has been impressive.

Andrée Jeglertz, the Manchester City manager, praised the ability of his team to win in different ways as needed, after three games in eight days. “We said afterwards, the players should be so proud of what they put into this game,” he said.

“We’ve learned we’re a great team who can keep the ball for 75% of the game and win that way, or we can win like this.…