Match reportLFC Women beat Leicester 4-0 in Continental League Cup

A clinical first-half display underpinned the Reds’ victory at Pirelli Stadium, with Missy Bo Kearns, Rhiannon Roberts and Rachel Furness on target before the break.

Substitute Katie Stengel then provided the final flourish to the scoreline in the second period with a powerful finish to wrap up an impressive result on the road.

Matt Beard’s side now have an outright lead of Group B ahead of their third fixture, which is at home to Blackburn Rovers in a month’s time.

The game brought together the section’s early pacesetters, with both Leicester and Liverpool on three points following the first round of matches.

Beard’s charges looked to maintain their momentum in the competition with a front-footed start that yielded a series of corners and half-chances in the early stages.

And they struck the opener just shy of the quarter-hour mark, Kearns sending a finish past Demi Lambourne from a central position at the edge of the box.

The Reds pushed on assertively and they doubled that advantage with 33 minutes on the clock as Kearns added an assist to her earlier effort.

From another corner situation, the midfielder’s delivery to the near post was redirected by the arriving Roberts in lovely, deft fashion to guide the ball into the Leicester net.

The visitors supplied gloss to a fine first half in the second minute of added time, when Furness emulated Kearns with a strike from distance that sailed into the top corner for 3-0.

Beard shuffled his options after the interval and it was a half-time introduction – Stengel – who increased Liverpool’s lead further late on.

The striker created shooting space with a driving run in Leicester territory and then picked out the corner with a low strike off her left foot, sealing a satisfying night’s work for the Reds.

LFC Women: Cumings, Roberts, Robe, Silcock (Fahey, 75), Matthews (Koivisto, 54), Campbell (Hinds, 46), Kearns (Holland, 69), Wardlaw, Furness, Humphrey, Lawley (Stengel, 46).

Unused substitutes: Laws, Kirby, Daniels, Flaherty.