Man City star Sam Mewis returns to action with a brace

Mewis scored a brace in the 4-0 win over Birmingham City, helping keep Manchester City within two points behind league pioneers Chelsea. 

The 28-year-old's goals came after she passed up the SheBelieves Cup because of an injury endured during the USWNT's January camp. 

"Sam does that!" Man City coach Taylor declared. "She's been out for quite a long period – I think her last game would have been in the Champions League.

"That's quite a long time she's been out but with her not going away for the SheBelieves Cup, we were able to keep her here and get her ready – and her performance was really good.

"I thought it wasn't an easy finish [for her opener]. It was a good ball but those crosses were with violence! It was that little bit of quality we'd not had for the 40 minutes previous.

"It was important we got that goal. It calmed the nerves a bit and allowed us to try and dominate in the second period."

Taylor likewise talked about

Rose Lavelle

and

Abby Dahlkemper

, who showed up as substitutes in the wake of getting back from the

SheBelieves Cup

. 

After beginning the match on the seat, Lavelle entered the game in the 72nd minute, and Dahlkemper got on the pitch four minutes after the fact. 

Lavelle's return comes after she scored once in three games during the SheBelieves Cup, procuring the tournomant's MVP grant, while Dahlkemper began twice during the competition. 

“They didn’t land back until Friday evening," Taylor said. "They had one half of a session before Birmingham. We are really pleased they are here and the fact we got them on the pitch was a real bonus.

“I thought the medical department were advising me not to put Rose in. I wanted her to be here but we know she was very tired."

Following the victory over Birmingham, Manchester City are only two focuses behind pioneers Chelsea and four points in front of third-place Manchester United. 

Next up will be a face-off against Fiorentina in the

Champions League

before a re-visitation of the

for a game with Everton.

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