Skinner: The game was always under control
Manchester United Women manager Marc Skinner was delighted with the way his side "controlled the game" in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Bristol City in the WSL.
Two goals from Lisa Naalsund either side of half-time were enough to grab all three points at Leigh Sports Village.
The visitors set up defensively, making it hard to break through, but the Reds’ boss was delighted with how his side played.
Skinner spoke to the media after the game about the commitment of the players, the importance of Naalsund and why Geyse brings something different.
Riviere: We love our little Norwegian!
Jayde Riviere was delighted to see Lisa Naalsund on the scoresheet twice as United Women defeated Bristol City...
THE GAME WAS ALWAYS UNDER CONTROL
“Bristol City organise the block, with difficult limited spaces. You're going to have to maximise the space. If you look at our goal, it's a perfect way of getting beyond the midfield line. Committing the backline allows our line to run them off. You can do that in a first-half pass. We spoke at half-time. Once we got into those pockets beyond their midfield, we started to press backwards. We needed to be more aggressive through one v ones and that was really the difference. I think we controlled the game.
“The game was always under control. Second half we got higher. We took more risks in the pockets. They had a couple of counter-attacks. You're going to get that in any game, whether it's a deep block because you can't always concentrate. I think it was a comprehensive win but it needed to be done. It's two clean sheets back to back, which gets us back into momentum. I'm pleased with our second half. I'm pleased with the players. It was never going to be a big, big scoring game.”
LISA IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PLAYER
"It's a big moment and I'm really happy with that. I'm happy with our patience on this. Everyone's been wondering why isn't she playing but as a coach to get a feeling of when it's right. You come in and out of form but Lisa came in a winter window which is always a difficult [time] to come in. Then she got an injury. She'd run a lot and it showed. For six years it just broke her body down, so we needed to fix her over time.
"I knew exactly when I saw Lisa play, exactly why I wanted her in my team and she just has that energy in midfield. She's got to do that more often because she can do that. She's got fantastic striking abilities. She's hit a left foot, but her right foot's fantastic. She's a really important player and I'm really happy with her form up to now and I know there's only more."
GEYSE'S A GAME CHANGER
"Geyse causes problems. She wants to take people on. We're a traditional team that likes to play and move the ball and invade. Sometimes she mixesit up for us. She takes on Napier, causes the carnage for her to foul and obviously in the midfield as well. She turns back to play and can drive forwards.
"She's still got work to do on the defensive side and for the team. That's not a lack of wanting to. That's just her understanding what Manchester United does. It just takes time. What she gives us going forward can also be a game changer."
HOME GAMES
Make sure you come down to Leigh Sports Village on 31 March, 14 April and 21 April, and Old Trafford on 18 May, to support United Women in our remaining home games this season:
Sun 31 Mar: Everton (14:00 BST)
Sun 14 Apr: Chelsea, FA Cup semi-final (14:35 BST)
Sun 21 Apr: Tottenham (12:00 BST)*
Sun 18 May: Chelsea (15:00 BST)**
*Time and date TBC
**This game is being played at Old Trafford
You can buy tickets for every United Women's home game here.