‘Attack the opportunity’ – Manchester City going out for the win says Cushing | OneFootball

Manchester City’s interim head coach Nick Cushing says that his side will be going out for the win when they play host to Chelsea at The Joie Stadium.

The two sides will battle out what promises to be a closely-contested first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final tie in the North West this evening.

Chelsea were somewhat fortunate as they defeated Manchester City 2-1 in the Subway Women’s League Cup final on Saturday. Reflecting on that game, Manchester City’s interim boss Cushing said that his side can take huge confidence and that The Cityzens will go into tonight’s tie with the aim of claiming an advantage.

“We played really well,” Cushing said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I asked for a certain type of football without the ball and I did see it. We created many moments.

“I said to the group after the game that’s confirmation that you can compete with the best team in the league and it should be enough to give you the determination to turn the result around. The performance is there, the game was completely even and one team is clear in the league.

“For me, it’s about going to play with no fear. I will always say to my teams that they’ve got to attack the opportunity that’s there, don’t fear the outcome or consequence, just go and play and attack the opportunity. It’s a Champions League quarter-final and it’s our home leg, so we’ve got to play to win.”

Chelsea needed a Yui Hasegawa own goal to eventually find a way of beating Manchester City at the weekend. Cushing takes confidence from the fact that the South West Londoners had to find an unconventional way to win.

He said “They’re a top team. Their form alone shows that they can find ways to win. I heard their manager’s press conference after the game [on Saturday] and she said that the proudest part of the game for her was that they found a way to win. I take confidence from that because it tells me that we put them under pressure and ran them close. I expect Manchester City to run Chelsea close, so that was my expectation before the game. Where they are strong is finding a way to win as she says.”

Despite some inconsistency in league performances, Manchester City have recorded some landmark results this season and Cushing says that his side now need to believe that they can win trophies.

He said “There have been some incredible results this year. We know it’s a good team; we beat Barcelona here and the team defeated Arsenal in the semi-final to get to the League Cup final that we’ve just played. What I want is a team that just embraces whoever they play.

“They played so well in the first half [against Chelsea] and we should have been 1-1 at least. When we did go 1-1, we had the biggest chance after that.

“When I talk about belief it’s ‘go on and win the game’. There’s a team in there that knows that they’re good, it’s a really together team but for me, it’s about having the real belief that we can win trophies. When you see that and feel that, the team will consistently win.

“The team are in a good place. I actually think Saturday’s result is fuel for this team because being with the group in training, you can see the ambition that they have.”

Manchester City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final, first leg tie against Chelsea kicks-off at 8pm this evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.