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Mary Fowler showed she is a "real bright light" in bouncing back from seeing a penalty saved to send Manchester City into the Women's League Cup final, manager Gareth Taylor said.
It had proved an eventful evening for the Australia forward against Arsenal at Meadow Park.
Fowler opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a stunning strike that swept across the face of goal and into the top right corner.
She was left looking devastated as her penalty was saved just moments after Arsenal, the two-time defending champions, had pulled level.
However, she emerged as the heroine, redeeming herself with a 95th-minute winner to ensure City avoided a second defeat by the Gunners in the space of five days.
"Mary was great - you know you wouldn't have realised she missed the penalty," Taylor added.
"There was no change at all in her level. You could see she was really determined to try and help the team and thankfully for us she got one over the line at the end."
Former Arsenal and Scotland defender Jen Beattie agreed that Fowler "was the difference" for City.
"Mary Fowler has been consistent. She was outstanding throughout the game. She offered herself in so many scenarios to try and get on the ball and make things happen," former England defender Anita Asante added on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.
Taylor said that he was pleased to see Fowler in "hot form" recently, having netted five goals and registered three assists in her past five Women's Super League games.
It is this kind of form, along with Aoba Fujino's impressive performances on the opposite wing, that appeared to keep Chloe Kelly out of Taylor's starting line-up before the England international secured a loan move to Arsenal.
"I think she's got such ability to be able to play in any of the three positions in the front line," Taylor said.
"I know she doesn't like playing the number nine but I think she does a really good job.
"When you trust Mary and she's feeling confident, then you see the real best of her."
For City, the victory was all the better knowing they had bounced back from an agonising 4-3 home defeat by Arsenal in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The result left City in fourth, out of the European places and 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea.
His team seemingly out of the title race, Taylor faced mounting pressure, and another defeat by Arsenal would have done further damage to his job prospects.
Before Thursday's victory, City had struggled defensively - shipping 11 goals in their previous four matches, while they had picked up just three wins in seven games.
But Taylor was proud of his team's mentality during their run to the League Cup final.
"We lost to [Manchester] United in the derby [in the WSL] and then we go and beat them in the quarter-finals of this competition three days later," Taylor said.
"Now we've done exactly the same again.
"We certainly played like the team we know we can be, with fight, with determination and quality."
Manchester City have not won a trophy since they lifted the League Cup nearly three years ago when they beat Chelsea in the 2022 final.
They will be up against the Blues again on 15 March, but the league leaders could prove a tougher challenge this time around.
With Sonia Bompastor at the helm, Chelsea have opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the WSL, while they massively strengthened their squad in January with the world record signing of Naomi Girma, along with Keira Walsh.
However, Taylor believes his side "have more than enough" to triumph at Derby's Pride Park Stadium.
"We're there not just to turn up, we're there to win," he said.
"We just have to put it all together on the day. I said to the players tonight it's not always about the performance at this stage, it's about winning and I saw a good balance of both tonight."
