Charlton show their grit in narrow defeat by champions Manchester City

Grit in defeat

Saturday brought Charlton's fourth straight defeat of the WSL season, but they may have emerged from their encounter with Manchester City with renewed belief. In losing 1-0 to the champions, they proved they have more grit than might have been thought.

The head coach, Karen Hills, had called for them to be brave and to return to the defensive fundamentals that brought them promotion. Charlton had only 25% possession, but their diligence defensively, structure out of possession and willingness to leave everything on the field was clear.

"I'm so proud of them," Hills said. "I thought the players bought into what I was asking them to do and they delivered it and executed it to the best they can."

Charlton remain bottom of the table on zero points and a -9 goal difference after four games, but the disciplined display against the league leaders offered encouragement for the tests ahead.