Mary Fowler and Matildas teammate in ugly development as fans fume over 'embarrassing' scenes

Mary Fowler scored a late goal from the penalty spot but the Aussie star was largely subdued in an unfamiliar role as Manchester City suffered a costly loss to Everton on Sunday night. City squandered a massive opportunity to gain ground on Women's Super League champions Chelsea before the Christmas break, suffering a first-ever loss to Everton in the WSL.

Fowler thundered home a penalty in the 88th minute, but goals to Lucy Hope and Honoka Hayashi were enough to see Everton hold on for a 2-1 win. Fowler was very quiet for most of the match after being utilised in an unaccustomed central striking role to replace the injured Khadija Shaw.

And Matildas teammate Alanna Kennedy had a nightmare at the back and was taken off at half-time. The experienced central defender was caught way out of position when Hope headed home the opening goal after 31 minutes.

And Kennedy again looked on helpless at the heart of defence when Hayashi grabbed the second goal just eight minutes later. The ugly scenes prompted City manager Gareth Taylor to substitute Kennedy at half-time, and fans weren't too kind to the Australian veteran on social media.

Fowler scored her third league goal of the season, and the Aussie youngster's second in successive weeks. It came after Yui Hasegawa had been dragged down by Karoline Olesen and City were awarded a penalty.

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Man City fail to take advantage of rare lapse from Chelsea

The goal from the spot gave City some late hope, but it turned out to be a consolation. The win for Everton dealt a crushing blow to City's hopes of winning the WSL title after Chelsea had left the door open at the top by drawing 1-1 with lowly Leicester the previous day.

Chelsea are playing without Matildas captain Sam Kerr, who won't be back until at least February while she recovers from her ACL tear. The loss for City means Fowler's crew are still six points behind defending champions Chelsea going into the Christmas break.

"It is disappointing. I think we were a bit flat today," Taylor said afterwards. "We looked like a team who have played quite a few games recently. We didn't seem to have much energy in team.

"I thought we were controlling the game for large parts but the first half especially we were giving away too many counter attacks, sometimes not being patient enough with our play. We suffered a little bit going the other way when Everton had chances and made the most of them, but you'd still expect us to deal with that. In the second half we were chasing the game. Everton had got something to hold onto which makes it really difficult."

City are dealing with a number of injuries, including a serious one to Alex Greenwood last week. But fans were still left fuming on social media, labelling it 'embarrassing' and 'awful' to lose to Everton for the first time.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Arsenal's three Matildas players - Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Steph Catley - all featured in the Gunners' 1-0 win at Liverpool that puts them third on the ladder, just one point behind City. And Dario Vidosic's Brighton side are fifth after their 1-1 draw with sixth-placed Tottenham on Saturday, while Katrina Gorry's assist for Viviane Asseyi's goal proved in vain in West Ham's 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa which leaves the Hammers 10th of the 12 teams.

with agencies