Manchester United Women had to come back from a goal down settling for a 1-1 draw against Leicester City. The Reds were back at Leigh Sports Village for the third successive game in a row in this Women’s Super League encounter. We arrived at this game after securing a 1-1 against PSG in our Champions League qualifying round first leg in midweek, where Melvine Malard’s effort on goal had cancelled out Tabitha Chawinga’s goal that gave PSG the lead in the early part of the second half.
Malard was rewarded by being selected in the starting eleven against the Foxes; playing on the left wing with Lucia Garcia on the right and Nikita Parris up front. Hinata Miyazawa played the number ten role with Katie Zelem and Hayley Ladd in the midfield. Gabby George and Hannah Blundell were at left and right back respectively, with Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner in the centre-back pairing.
UNITED RECOVER AFTER INJURY TO GABBY GEORGE
The start of the game saw a very concerning moment early on, as Gabby George, who we signed during the summer transfer window, picked up what looks like a suspected knee injury. She was subsequently replaced by Jayde Riviere. This saw Blundell revert into the left-back role with Riviere at right-back.
Leicester played a high line on the pitch with the Reds looking to counter-attack. We began to settle down and our first chance came from a Katie Zelem corner. Melvine Malard had two shots on goal blocked by the Leicester defence.
It would be the opposition’s Janice Cayman who had their first effort on goal in the 20th minute but it went wide. United then began to dominate for the rest of the first half with both Nikita Parris and Melvine Malard providing the creative outlet on goal but being denied by the Foxes’ Janina Leitzig.
Leitzig was to make a number of saves during the first half as United countered with a long ball that fell into Parris, who then played in Garcia. However, the Spaniard’s effort on goal was blocked. The ball fell to Zelem whose shot was parried away by the goalkeeper. Our best chance came just before the half-time break. Another long ball came in from behind but Hinata Miyazawa hit the bar as another chance to take the lead had gone.
UNITED FAILED TO CREATE ENOUGH CLEAR-CUT CHANCES IN THE SECOND HALF
We picked up from where we left off in the second half. However, it was Leicester who took the lead in the 60th minute as we failed to deal with the set piece. The ball from the right wing fell to Aileen Whelan, who was free at the back at the post to slot the ball past goalkeeper Mary Earps. United pulled it back straight away as we grabbed the equaliser from our own set piece. Zelem’s in-swinging corner was met by the head of Maya Le Tissier to beat Leitzig at the back post.
In the 72nd minute, Leicester could have retaken the lead by Cayman but was excellently blocked by Riviere. Mary Earps then saved Lena Petermann’s shot to keep the game level at 1-1. United continued to push for the winner and just before the 90th minute but Hannah Blundell’s shot was straight at Leitzig.
As we dominated much of the game with our possession, we failed to create enough clear-cut chances to take the win. The draw leaves the Reds fifth in the table with five points collected from the first three league games. The attention now turns to the midweek trip to Paris, as we take on the PSG in the second leg of the Women’s Champions League qualifying round.