Result: Women’s Player of the Match v Liverpool
Lisa Naalsund has been chosen as Manchester United Women’s Player of the Match after her two goals in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool.
The Norwegian midfielder was one of two players to come into our side for the Barclays Women’s Super League clash in Leigh, and she certainly justified her inclusion.
Naalsund netted the game’s opening goal in the 52nd minute of the match, producing a first-time sidefooted finish to emphatically convert Jess Park’s low cutback.
Lisa’s second strike in eight second-half minutes then arrived on the hour mark, just a minute after Liverpool had levelled, when she powered home another right-footed effort.
Fridolina Rolfo completed the scoring for Marc Skinner’s side late on, but it was Naalsund who was recognised by the majority of fans voting for the Player of the Match in our post-game poll.
The 30-year-old accumulated 62 per cent of all votes from supporters selecting their winner on our platforms, to claim the award for the first time this season.
Fellow midfielder Julia Zigiotti, who teed up Lisa’s second goal of the afternoon, finished runner-up with a share of 20 per cent.
Hinata Miyazawa and Anna Sandberg completed our four-player shortlist and tied for third place with nine per cent each. Thank you to everyone who voted.
Naalsund has primarily operated in a deeper midfield role when on the pitch so far this season, but operated as a no.10 – just behind striker Elisabeth Terland – on Sunday, and playing that position resulted in our no.16 scoring her first two goals of the campaign.
She spoke about the advanced brief, and the win, in the Progress With Unity Stadium tunnel post-match, telling MUTV’s Ben Ibson: “I’ve done it in the past [played as a no.10], but I would say I have defensive and offensive qualities, so I’m happy both ways [playing there or deeper in the midfield].
“We’re very happy with that [win], we need to get all the wins the rest of the season, so this is a good start,” Lisa also said.
“It’s a new Liverpool, they’ve done some good signings, so they’re looking good now and they were tricky to play against. So, it was very good to have a win today.”