By Alexis Monteith 

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw surpassed Georgia Stanway’s record to become Manchester City Women’s all-time leading goalscorer with 68 goals, a feat she secured in Saturday’s (March 23) high-stakes derby, scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win over Manchester United Women. 

The Jamaican’s 68 goals have come from just 82 games across all competitions. It took Stanway 186 appearances to reach the previous record of 67 goals. 

With City leading 2-0 in the derby at the Etihad courtesy of a Jess Park brace, Shaw collected a reverse pass from Park while storming into the opponents’ penalty area. Evading a challenge from the defender chasing her, Shaw came face to face with goalkeeper Mary Earps and slotted the ball past the custodian and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

The elated Reggae Girl celebrated with a knee-slide through the grass, a gesture that has recently become the signature celebration of choice for City players, both men and women, when they score in the Manchester derby.

Manchester City endured a nervy start to the game with United pressing hard and high after the opening whistle. But after both Nikkita Parris and Geyse failed to put away opportunities for the Reds it would be the blue side who would make their chances count.

Jess Park smashed a Leila Ouahabi cross first-time into United’s net to open City’s account after 37 minutes. The goal would spark controversy, however, with Shaw being offside during the build-up play, a discrepancy that was missed by the officials.

Eight minutes later, Park would again find the net when she arrived at the back post for a simple volley, slipping the ball to the left of the hapless Earps and into goal at close range.

With two goals under her belt, the 22-year-old England international would go on to provide the assist for Khadija Shaw’s goal just after the start of the second half.

But Manchester United would not relinquish the game without a fight, pulling a goal back in the 74th minute when sustained pressure forced an own goal from right-back Kirstin Casparij.

Speaking after the game Shaw said she was “very proud” of her performance which pushed her past Stanway’s achievement of 67 goals.

Answering a question on how she copes with the pressure to score goals, the Jamaican replied, “You set high standards for yourself. Of course, every game you go in, you are not going to score all the time, but at the end of the day as long as you are working hard and working for the team, you know good things can happen.”

Shaw also had fond praises for Manchester City goalscoring legend, Shaun Goater, who has been guiding her in training.

“He’s great to work with,” Shaw said in a post-match interview on Manchester City’s MatchDay Live show. “He’s funny. He always makes me laugh and gives me jokes. But on the flip side we work together a lot off the pitch, watching videos, seeing how I can get better, creating angles for my midfielders when they drive.”

Manchester City Women entered the derby tied on points with league leaders Chelsea but they are second in the table with two goals less on goal difference. With five games left until the end of the season City cannot afford to drop points in the hunt for WSL glory.

“I think for us, first and foremost, focus on ourselves,” Shaw said, commenting on City’s chances. “Because, you know, if we don’t do what we do to get the points and score the goals then there is no title race. So I think, first and foremost, go out in every game wanting to win, wanting to score as many goals as possible.”

“The girls in the back encourage us just the same,” she continued. “They trust us to do our bit just as how we trust them to keep a clean sheet. But, yeah, I think that’s going to be the main difference for us. Focus on ourselves. Go out in every game wanting to score goals and get the job done at the end of the day.”

Manchester City Women will next face Liverpool away.