Lize Kop has claimed the HSBC Player of the Match award after her penalty shootout heroics earned us victory over London City Lionesses on Monday night and secured our spot in the quarter-final of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
No stranger to producing stunning saves in a shootout, having done so earlier in the campaign in our Women’s League Cup tie with Aston Villa, our number one was once again the hero as we edged London City 9-8 win on penalties which saw her take your votes to claim our Player of the Match poll for the second time this season.
After 17 incredibly composed spot-kicks into the shootout, it came down to a moment of brilliance from Lize to earn us victory as she got down to her right to save Wassa Sangare’s penalty, sparking delirium on the pitch from our players and in the stands from our fans.
Watch | Key highlights from our FA Cup success at London City Lionesses
While all the attention will be on her heroic save at the end, the Netherlands international also voluntarily stepped up to take our sixth spot-kick, the first of the sudden death, and calmly sent Elene Lete the wrong way, slotting into the bottom corner.
She was also influential through the 90 minutes of normal time, producing six saves in total, including a brilliant point-blank save from Nikita Parris’ header to help us end the first half with a one-goal advantage.
With us later 2-1 down, in the final minute of the four indicated for stoppage time, Lize joined the attack for one last corner and, while she was not directly involved in the penalty incident, she certainly caused chaos inside the Lionesses’ box as we were awarded a late spot kick. Bethany England then duly slotted home to force the game into extra time.