Report: Southampton 1-1 Bristol City.

Lexi Lloyd-Smith scored a debut goal as Bristol City started their 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw at Southampton.

Aimee Palmer had opened the scoring for Southampton with a free kick early in the second half.

Up next, City host Birmingham City at Ashton Gate, on .

Amalie Thestrup would create the best chance of the first half, pinching the ball from Saints goalkeeper Fran Stenson outside the box, and lifting the ball into the area from the left-hand side.

The ball fell to Lloyd-Smith on the edge of the box but she couldn’t keep her shot down.

With the Southampton defence holding strong, City were mostly restricted to long-range efforts, with Thestrup and Ella Powell both trying their luck in quick succession to no avail.

40 minutes in, Abi Harrison’s tidy feet on the edge of the box created space for a shot, but she poked her effort just wide. 

The hosts would have their best chance of the half less than a minute later, as former Robin Molly Pike saw her volley from 12 yards sail just wide. 

It was Southampton who opened the scoring in the 47th minute, as Palmer’s free kick from the left-hand side found the top corner.

The Robins responded well, and Powell and Emily Syme both saw powerful efforts blocked. 

City’s equaliser came in the 62nd minute as Emily Syme’s cross from the left-hand side of the area found Lloyd-Smith in the box, and her left-footed effort found the back of the net from inside the box.

Both sides would push for a winner but it was City who went closest to a deciding goal. 

Second-half substitute Mari Ward’s cross from the right-hand side found Amy Rodgers unmarked in the box but she couldn’t quite get enough contact on the ball and it trickled agonisingly wide. 

A dangerous cross from Jamie-Lee Napier won City a corner in added time, and Harley Bennett saw a header blocked just a couple of yards out from the resulting ball in.

Starting XI: Bentley; Powell, Bennett, Struck, Napier (C); Lloyd-Smith (Woolley 68), Syme, Rodgers, Ward; Harrison (Bull 90+8), Thestrup (Teisar 75).

Substitutes not used: Burns, Humphries, Pearce, Durrant, Kendell, Early