Janine Beckie, a Canadian striker, scored a strong low drive to help Manchester City defeat Everton 4-0 in their Women’s Super League debut on Saturday.
With halftime approaching, the 27-year-old Tokyo Olympic winner broke free from the Everton defense and fired a 20-yard shot into the bottom corner at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England.
Man City captain Steph Houghton scored the game’s final goal, while newcomers Vicky Losada and Khadija Shaw scored in the first half.
The city has now won all 11 encounters between the clubs by an aggregate score of 30-4, having not lost a season-opening in each of the last seven WSL seasons.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are victorious.
In other news, Tottenham began its WSL campaign with a 1-0 home win over Birmingham City on Saturday.
Spurs had a strong start but were frequently thwarted by a Birmingham side that offered nothing offensively but was tenacious on defense. Graham scored a looping header from a play that was cleverly worked around the edge of the box in the 40th minute to break the deadlock.
Spurs continued to attack in the second half, with substitute Angela Addison coming close to adding a second, while Birmingham only managed two efforts on goal throughout the game.
In other matches, Aston Villa beat Leicester City 2-1 after scoring twice in two minutes in the second half. Following a goalkeeping blunder by Hannah Hampton, promoted Leicester gained a merited lead through Natasha Flint in the 39th minute.
Villa, on the other hand, fought back strongly after the break, with Sarah Mayling curling in a superb free-kick in the 63rd minute to equalize before captain Remi Allen completed the comeback a minute later.
On Sunday, champions Chelsea will visit Arsenal.
