Putellas Leads London City Lionesses to Opening Win
Seven years ago, the idea would have sounded like fan fiction. Millwall Lionesses breaking away, reborn as London City Lionesses, then opening a WSL season in Bromley with Alexia Putellas as captain and standard-bearer. Yet there she was on Friday night, stooping to scoop up the coin after the toss – the same ritual she performed for Barcelona – now doing it in front of a packed non-league ground on London’s edge.
Referees will have to get used to that sight. So will opponents. Cameras followed the No 11 relentlessly, lenses tracking every touch, every glance, every barked instruction. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner, once the heartbeat of a three-time European champion, now finds herself surrounded by players not raised inside Barcelona’s tactical laboratory, not schooled from childhood in a single, strict way of playing.
On the pitch, it is a step down. Off it, not so much. Owner Michele Kang has made it clear that London City will not think small. With a world-class training base approved and on the way, the gap in day‑to‑day conditions between Putellas’s old life and her new one is narrowing fast.
Kang, wearing a home shirt stamped with “Kang 27”, walked the perimeter before kick-off, stopping for photos and handshakes. Her visibility and investment are a sharp contrast to the man on the other side of this fixture, Manchester United’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, and his bleak public references to his women’s teams.
A new captain, a new reality
Putellas led London City out into a raucous, sold‑out Bromley FC. Her expression was all business, the famous steely stare only cracking briefly as she shared a joke with the mascot gripping her hand a little too tightly.
This was her first real taste of the new normal. No Champions League anthem, no Camp Nou. Just a tight, noisy ground in south-east London and a Manchester United side still trying to work out who they are under a new manager.
At 32, the midfielder no longer glides through games with the same explosive dominance. This was solid, controlled, intelligent rather than spectacular. She knitted play, set the tempo, dragged markers around. But she was not the star turn.
That honour went to others. Rosa Kafaji buzzed and probed. Lucía Corrales, bright and brave down the flank, impressed before her night ended in distress, leaving on a stretcher after overstretching for a ball late on.
“Everybody knows what [Putellas] can create and bring to us,” said London City head coach Eder Maestre afterwards. “It’s not just the things she’s capable of doing, it’s the things she facilitates for other players too.
“Having this kind of player in the squad is very important because she represents the highest standards and having her involved in it is not only because of her performance, but also because of the leadership she can bring in terms of helping us to reach that standard. But it is not only about Alexia, she is only one player, and I think the most impactful thing was the way everybody connected, the chemistry that we are building around the players.”
That chemistry is Maestre’s main challenge. The squad has been heavily rebuilt, big names arriving across the pitch – including former England No 1 Mary Earps, who watched this one from the bench as Elene Lete started in goal.
“Mary had some issues in pre-season so that was why there was inconsistency in game involvement,” Maestre said. “We have two strong goalkeepers. Today, Elene deserved to be in the lineup. She was very strong in her actions.”
Childhood joy, grown-up dominance
Maestre has spoken of wanting an identity “related to all those things we felt when we were playing football as children”. In Bromley, that idea had a clear shape.
London City went straight onto the front foot. They pressed high, chased lost causes, attacked with a kind of structured abandon. It was not always polished, but it looked like fun – the sort of football that tempts risk and rewards bravery.
The pressure told early. Nine minutes in, a set piece swung into the United box caused chaos. Alanna Kennedy rose, exerting enough pressure that Julia Zigiotti Olme, crouched and off-balance, could only turn the ball into her own net. A cruel way to concede, but entirely in keeping with the pattern of the game.
For Eva Olid, appointed in the summer and stepping into the glare of the WSL for the first time, it was a harsh introduction. United’s recruitment has been underwhelming, and with Chelsea and Arsenal looming on the schedule, this was probably as gentle as an opening could get. Even then, her side were outclassed, starved of the ball and ideas, ending with just 40% possession.
They mustered three shots. By the time they stirred, London City had already tightened their grip.
The second goal summed up the home side’s superiority. From a Mapi León corner, the ball was worked back out, then recycled towards Delphine Cascarino on the flank. Her cross carried pace and purpose; Daniëlle van de Donk met it with a deft flick, steering it into the far corner. One touch, one moment of quality, and the contest felt done.
United wake up too late
“It’s a process,” Olid said. “I think it was something more mental in the first half, we could feel like the players were not believing.
“At half-time I say that this is not us, we need the ball to be ourselves … in the second half, we were building through the middle, finding the free player, playing between the lines. That is us, and I can feel my team in the second half. It’s my job to help them to believe that we can always be the team of the second half.”
United did improve after the break. They finally began to stitch passes together, to show some of the patterns Olid wants. But the damage had been done. London City, organised and relentless, rarely looked rattled.
Deep into added time, United found a consolation. A free-kick was only half-cleared and dropped invitingly into space. Simi Awujo reacted fastest, striding onto the loose ball and lashing it home. It was a sharp finish, a small bright spot on a bruising night.
The goal barely dented the mood in the stands. This was a statement from Maestre’s side: aggressive, coherent, ambitious. Putellas did not need to dominate to matter; her presence, her standards, and the players thriving around her told their own story.
For London City, this felt like more than an opening-day win. It looked like the first convincing piece of evidence that their project – from Kang’s boardroom to the pitch in Bromley – might be ready to disrupt the WSL order.
