Liverpool Ladies made it a winning start in their opening Women's Super League game of 2016 with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham in a tense encounter at the Select Security Stadium in Widnes on Wednesday night.

On an evening that saw the away side miss two penalty kicks and Liverpool end up with 10 players, Dutch winger Shanice Van De Sanden scored the only goal of the match on her WSL debut.

Scott Rogers made three changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Manchester City in the Women’s FA Cup on Saturday, with Emma Lundh, Van De Sanden and Kate Longhurst replacing Rosie White, Laura Coombs and Caroline Weir.

The Reds got off to the worst possible start after four minutes when Birmingham were awarded a penalty following a handball in the area. However, goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, following on from her assured debut display against City, guessed right to superbly palm away Kirsty Linnett’s spot-kick.

Three minutes later, Liverpool Ladies were in front. A searching long pass from Longhurst found Van De Sanden, who showed great pace to beat Blues stopper Sophie Baggaley to the ball and find the net.

The goal gave Rogers’ charges a lot of confidence. On 11 minutes, a superb pass from Alex Greenwood sent Natasha Harding through, but Baggaley was on hand to make a brave save.

On 16 minutes, meanwhile, Chamberlain again showed her quality with a fine save to keep out a Meaghan Sargeant header.

Birmingham certainly carried a threat in the first half but Chamberlain impressed with her handling of crosses and distribution, while at the other end new Dutch winger Van De Sanden thrilled the crowd with her pace and direct style down the right flank.

With 38 minutes on the clock, a brilliant run from Van De Sanden released Lundh in the penalty area, but from a tight angle her cross was just cleared from the six-yard box.

A minute before the break, Katie Zelem went close for the Reds but her rasping long-range drive was well held by Baggaley.

Liverpool Ladies continued to look for the vital second goal after the break. Harding was unlucky not to make it 2-0 when she was denied at point blank range by a good stop from Baggaley, after more great work from Van De Sanden.

On 69 minutes, Birmingham were awarded their second penalty of the game but it seemed a very harsh decision.

Mandy Van Den Berg, on her WSL debut, was shown a straight red card when she was judged to have brought down Melissa Lawley. Rogers and his team were incensed at the decision, but justice was then done as from the resulting spot-kick Freda Ayisi missed the target as her effort went wide.

Chamberlain was absolutely brilliant in goal for the Reds and with two minutes remaining she made another outstanding stop to keep out a close-range effort from Ayisi.

The Blues then had a strong appeal for a third penalty rejected when Lawley went down after a challenge from Greenwood, but this time play was waved on and the hosts preserved their win.

Liverpool Ladies: Chamberlain, Harris, Greenwood, Van Den Berg, Bonner, Ingle, Longhurst, Zelem (Coombs 79), Lundh (Weir 74), Harding (White 90), Van De Sanden. Unused substitutes: Gibbons, Pacheco, Hodson, Green.