Manchester United Women saw their first loss of the Women’s Super League as they were beaten by our neighbours and rivals Manchester City 3-1 under the lights of Old Trafford. Whilst we had beaten West Ham 5-0 the previous weekend, the Reds had only won the two of the last five games and had seen the derby as a way to correct our inconsistent form of late.
Mary Earps was between the sticks and the defence was a familiar one all but for one position. Hannah Blundell was at right back with Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner operating as the centre back pairing. Leah Galton was in the unfamiliar position of left back. Lisa Naalsund partnered Katie Zelem in the midfield with a front four consisting of Melvine Malard, Ella Toone, Nikita Parris and Geyse.
City’s high press caused many problems
It was City that came out of the traps earlier setting the tempo for the game. The first minute saw the opposition using their aerial threat to take advantage of us. However, they couldn’t get their effort away on goal with United looking rattled by this. City’s high press meant that United could not gain a foothold during the first half as the midfield struggled.
Five minutes later, it was Alex Greenwood’s header just landing on the roof of the goal that caused more problems for the Reds in the aerial duels. United had not settled into the game and were struggling in their link up play. However, there was to be some joy when Melvine Malard broke out from the halfway line and then had setup Ella Toone on the left but her shot was blocked off at the edge of the box in the fifteen minute.
City then turn the tables back on us as they had again found space behind our defensive line. Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw had got through on goal passing through Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner but her effort was saved by Mary Earps. Whilst our opponents were on top, it would be United who would strike first blow in the game as they won a penalty in the 20th minute after Malard’s shot had struck the arm of Alex Greenwood. The referee deliberated for a few seconds deciding the correct decision was a penalty. Captain Katie Zelem stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom corner despite Khiara Keating getting a hand to it.
The opposition nearly pulled level in the 27th minute after United failed in clearing a corner with Greenwood’s effort being blocked by Geyse. There had been appeals for handball but referee waved off any protests by the players. On the 30th minute, the Reds thought they claimed their second goal through Geyse. Having been put through by Lisa Naalsund, Geyse had tried to play the ball to Malard but it was cut out. She then scored from tight angle but it was disallowed as it was deemed that the ball had gone out of play before hitting the back of the net.
City who were dominating the game soon got their equaliser when Chloe Kelly play the ball across to Jill Roord in the middle of the box before hitting the ball past Mary Earps into the goal. Things got even worse for United as just a minute later as Katie Zelem lost the ball in a dangerous area of the pitch. Khadija Shaw’s effort had been blocked but the ball fell to Lauren Hemp who curled it into the far post to beat Earps.
United failED to mount a comeback
The second half did not see the response from the United players that the fans expected. It would be another defensive error that caused the third goal to be scored by City. Le Tissier had played a bad ball back to Mary Earps, even though she got to it, the resulting kick came off Khadija Shaw and trickled into the back of the net. The goalkeeper could have done better in that situation. However, it was Le Tissier’s pass that caused the damage as the Old Trafford faithful was silenced.
The Reds did gain an advantage in the 72nd minute when City’s Laia Alexandri had pulled back Lucia Garcia as we looked to break on the counter attack. Already on a yellow card, she was subsequently shown another yellow followed by a red card. The sending off did provide some hope that United would be able to mount a comeback.
Garcia did have an effort from distance in the 79th minute but was parried out for a corner. Whilst the red card for the City player did create some momentum, it was clearly not enough as we searched in vain to score. We did have the opportunity to pull one back in the 95th minute but Jayde Riviere’s chipping effort was saved by Khiara Keating.
This was to be the last attack from United as the full time whistle was blown that saw the Reds suffer their first league defeat of the season currently occupying fourth spot in the table. United were unable to play through the City’s high press that made it bad game for both the midfield and defence too.