'We’ve come to test ourselves against the best'

United ran out 1-0 winners on the night courtesy of Zelem’s second-half strike, to progress to the final of the AMOS Women’s French Cup. 

The pre-season tournament, which features the host nation’s giants PSG, German powerhouse Bayern Munich and reigning Spanish champions Barcelona, is an opportunity for the Reds to face top-quality European opposition in preparation for the new campaign. 

And the skipper was delighted with how the team stood up to the task in Toulouse.

“I’m over the moon, not just [with] the win but with how proud I am of the girls,” our no.10 said to Zarah Connolly after the win.

“I think the fact that we rode out really tough spells in the game, we knew that it was going to be a really difficult game against one of the best sides in Europe and that’s what we’ve come to the tournament for, to test ourselves against the best and we certainly did that tonight (Tuesday).”

United will now advance to Friday’s final where we will face Bayern, who defeated Barcelona 2-1 in the other last-four match, earlier in the day. 

It will be the latest stage of a pre-season campaign that started over four weeks ago now back at Carrington, and Zelem believes you could see the rewards of the summer work in Tuesday’s game.

“You can really see what we’ve been doing in pre-season is coming together. 

“We’ve been missing some of the international players too, so I think all credit to how hard we’ve worked over pre-season.”

WHAT SKINNER SAID ABOUT ZELEM’S PERFORMANCE

After Tuesday’s win, head coach Marc was full of praise for his team and was asked about the skipper’s overall contribution towards the result, where her goal was just the highlight.

“That’s why she’s my captain, she gives everything to the team,” Skinner told our club channels.

“What you don’t always see with Katie and what I think people need to appreciate, is she helps other people be better, as well as obviously having the quality to do what she does.

“And, for me, that is exactly why she skippers our team because she is an absolute light who allows other people to shine as well. She was magnificent tonight.”

Secure your seat at United Women’s 2022/23 home WSL games, including the Aston Villa fixture at Old Trafford, with tickets on sale now.