It said a lot about Khiara Keating's performance against Chelsea on Sunday that she walked away from the Etihad Stadium with the Player of the Match award, despite Manchester City falling to defeat. After spending the previous eight games on the bench, the 20-year-old was thrust back into the action in one of her team's biggest games of the season so far and she stepped up in a big way to keep City in it until the very last minute.
It also said a lot about Keating's performance that, less than 48 hours later, she returned to the senior England squad for the first time in eight months. Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman was clearly impressed with what she saw from the youngster and she wasted no time in adding her into her squad, bumping the goalkeeping section up to four names as a result.
So far this season, it's been tough for Keating. Summer signing Ayaka Yamashita has been the starting goalkeeper for the majority of City's matches this term and her younger team-mate has had some rather dramatic highs and lows when she's got the chance to play. For the next couple of weeks, though, Yamashita will be sidelined and Keating will be the starter.
It's a huge opportunity for her to do as she did on Sunday and remind everyone just what she is capable of, and it starts in a big way, on Thursday, when she goes to Stamford Bridge hoping to help City progress to the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League for the first time in seven years.
