Manchester City's Women's Super League season has been hanging by a thread for a while now and, on Wednesday, it felt like that thread finally snapped. As Manuela Pavi muscled her way into the box and curled a stoppage time equaliser past Ayaka Yamashita to secure a dramatic equaliser for relegation-threatened West Ham, the blow it dealt to City's chances of securing a top-three finish was best summed up by the exasperated and frustrated reactions of their players. This was a tough one.
With six games to play, City are just one point behind third-placed Arsenal, but they've played a game more than the Gunners and a game more than Manchester United, who are four points ahead of them in second. Arsenal play just one more of the 'big four' before the end of the season, while City still need to face both Chelsea and United.
But, really, it's not the games against their toughest rivals that are the problem. City's biggest issue right now is that they do not have the squad to battle in the WSL, the Champions League, the League Cup and the FA Cup. With success in the former looking more and more unlikely, Gareth Taylor's side need to focus on the cup competitions if they want to have a successful end to a campaign that, at this point, they'll be glad to see the back of.
