‘Her reactions were crazy’ – Brosnan put smiles on Everton faces says Sørensen | OneFootball

Everton manager Brian Sørensen said that goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan put smiles on faces after she pulled off four excellent saves in a 3-0 penalty shootout victory over Newcastle United in the Women’s League Cup last night.

The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time at Kingston Park. Demi Stokes netted early in the first half for Newcastle United before Emma Bissell levelled matters for Everton five minutes into the second period. In the penalty shootout that followed, Brosnan saved all of Newcastle United’s penalties including a twice-taken spot kick by Georgia Gibson.

When speaking to WSL Full-Time after the match, Sørensen said that Brosnan put some smiles on Everton faces at the end of a challenging fixture.

“Courtney is amazing, her reactions were crazy on the line,” Sørensen said. “It was great for her.

“I said to the girls that I was a bit upset at half-time but after the game, Courtney helped put a smile on our faces which is good.”

Newcastle United were allowed to thrive with their passing game and high press in the first half before Everton took control after the break. Sørensen was pleased with his side’s reaction after the interval whilst confirming that everybody left the pitch in good health at full-time for the first time this season.

He said “In the first half, we were not in gear, not ready and our physical numbers wasn’t how we normally train, so at half-time, I had to shake them up a bit. I think in the second half, we created enough chances to win. Fair play to Newcastle, they tried different things and they hurt us for a period.

“I had to manage the squad and make sure that we got through [without injuries]. It looks like we got through and we are ready for Sunday.

“I’m relieved that we didn’t lose because at one point, it looked like that.”

After losing Aurora Galli and Inma Gabarro to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, the last thing that Everton wanted was a game on a 4G pitch. Sørensen admitted that his side had to adapt to the conditions and put any injury risks to the back of their minds.

He said “With the injuries that we’ve had, I said to the girls that you can’t think about it, you have to go 100 percent into everything but then you go out there and you’re feeling a bit ‘where am I?’ and so on.

“I don’t think we won a second ball today and I think the pitch plays into that. As I said to the girls, the last time I played on that [4G] was when I was back in Denmark a long time ago.

“It’s how it is, we had to adapt to it and be better but it didn’t help us.”

Everton are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Arsenal for a Barclays Women’s Super League fixture.