Report: United Women 2 Leicester 0

There were three changes to the United line-up from Marc Skinner. Melvine Malard, Celin Bizet and Aoife Mannion all came into the side, with Hinata Miyazawa on the bench, and Jayde Riviere and Elisabeth Terland missing out through knocks. Leicester, meanwhile, were unchanged from the side that beat Aston Villa last time out.

The impressive Malard grabbed her opportunity with both hands, at the heart of most of United's attacking play. She scored the opener before laying on the second before the break for Leah Galton.

Leicester were much improved in the second half, but United were solid defensively and recorded a milestone 10th league clean sheet of the campaign.

FIRST HALF

A spell of sustained early United pressure deep in Leicester's half produced the first attempt of the afternoon when Dominique Janssen fired a right-footed shot from the edge of the box that whistled just wide of the target. The Reds continued to control the tempo, although there was a clear intention from Leicester to try and stretch the pitch with the pace of Shana Chossenotte down their right flank.

Further half-chances came as Janina Leitzig collected a through ball just before Malard reached it, while Ella Toone shot just wide from distance. But there was elegant simplicity about Malard's opener just shy of 20 minutes in. It was two straight passes through the centre of the pitch from Maya Le Tissier and then Toone, with Malard beating Julie Thibaud for pace to run through on goal. A clever drop of the shoulder wrongfooted Leitzig, opening the door for a classy finish at the near post.

United had vocal penalty appeals waved away midway through the half when a cross from the right struck the outstretched arm of Leicester midfielder Sam Tierney. A couple of important Leicester blocks then kept the Reds at bay as Malard teed up Bizet and then smashed the rebound goalward herself.

A Gabby George free-kick from a promising position towards the end of the half missed the target, but Galton ensured United took a two-goal lead into the break when Malard slid a ball into her path in the box. It was a composed finish from our no.11 who proceeded to rush over to the bench to celebrate the strike with fellow Lego Club members Rachel Williams and Safia Middleton-Patel.

SECOND HALF

Despite conceding a second right before the break, Leicester returned from the interval with some fresh vigour and George needed to be alert to block from Chossenotte at the far post. Missy Goodwin later had another sight of goal for the Foxes that she blazed over on the volley an hour in.

Half-time substitute Yuka Momiki, scorer for Japan against the United States in the SheBelieves Cup, was the primary source of Leicester's improvement and had her own effort well saved by Phallon Tullis-Joyce. With a quarter of the game left, Leicester even fortuitously struck the woodwork when CJ Bott's mishit cross clipped the top of the crossbar and bounced over. Tierney then had the away section groaning with a miss from a good position closing in at the far post.

In search of a wider buffer, United were denied when a promising run from Malard down the left saw a cross intercepted just before it reached Bizet, with the follow up agonisingly nudged out of Toone's path.

Leicester had done an exceptional job at keeping the Reds at arm's length throughout much of the second half. But that resilience started to wane in the closing stages and, combined with Rachel Williams’s bulldozing introduction late on, saw United engineer a final opening for Miyazawa that flew off target.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Tullis-Joyce; Mannion, Le Tissier (c), Turner, George; Clinton, Janssen (Miyzazwa 73); Bizet (Geyse 84), Toone, Galton; Malard (Williams 85).

Subs not used: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Hill, Livingston, Griffiths.

Booked: Miyazawa.

Goals: Malard 19, Galton 45+2.

Leicester: Leitzig; Bott, Howard, Thibaud, Ale; Tierney (Takarada 76), Mace, Chossenotte (O’Brien 62), Cayman (c) (Cain 62), Goodwin (Las 76); Eiriksdottir (Momiki 46).

Subs not used: Clark, Nevin, Swaby, Rose.

Booked: Bott.

Attendance: 3,950.