Talking points from our win over London City Lionesses
Manchester United’s 2-1 win over London City Lionesses at the Progress With Unity Stadium on Sunday gave us plenty of takeaways to discuss as the Reds battled for three hard-fought points.
Former United forward Nikita Parris handed the visitors a surprise lead just a few minutes in, heading in a cross from the right.
United responded with an equaliser from Jess Park at the half-hour mark, before a gritty second half from both sides eventually saw Millie Turner plant a header into the far corner of the net after connecting with Maya Le Tissier’s free-kick.
SEVEN WINS IN A ROW
This result now makes it seven wins in a row for United across all competitions, going back to our 5-0 thrashing of Burnley in the FA Cup fourth round last month.
Momentum continued with a landmark victory over Arsenal in the Subway Women’s League Cup, before carrying that run into WSL encounters with Aston Villa (4-1), Liverpool (3-1) and Leicester (2-0).
The sixth of the streak came in Madrid against Atletico (3-0), who we face again in the second leg in Leigh on Thursday night with a place in the Champions League quarter-finals at stake, before today’s seventh straight win.
The win over London City wasn’t exactly pretty, with the visitors making it tough from the start. But, with preparation time squeezed after the team did not land home after Madrid until the early hours of Friday morning, it was about getting the job done and winning any way possible.
Overall, United are also now unbeaten across 11 games, going back to December’s Champions League defeat at the hands of OL Lyonnes during the league phase.
UNITED PRESERVE IMPRESSIVE WSL RECORD
Coming into this game, United were the only club in WSL history to have a 100 per cent winning record against every newly promoted team they have faced in the competition. That run has now been extended to 14 games, with an aggregated scoreline of 40-4 in favour of the Reds.
TURNER’S FIRST WSL START SINCE SEPTEMBER
Notwithstanding her heroic winning goal, today’s game marked Turner’s first start in the WSL since the reverse meeting with London City in Bromley in September.
Having recovered from the knee injury that ruled her out of the first half of the season, our no. 21 played the full 90 minutes in last month’s FA Cup win over Burnley and appeared as a substitute in the league triumph against Aston Villa. But with Dominque Janssen moving to the bench, Millie was named in the back four alongside Le Tissier, rekindling their familiar partnership.
Completing the full game was an important milestone, banking those minutes as United continue to fight on four fronts in the remaining three-and-a-half months of the season.
ANOTHER JESS PARK STUNNER
Park knows how to score bangers. Fresh off winning Barclays WSL Goal of the Month for January for her strike against Aston Villa at Villa Park, it was another outstanding solo effort that drew United level after the challenging start.
Receiving the ball on the left, a sharp first touch made everything that followed it possible. That touch beat Jana Fernandez, evading the kind of pressure that had frustrated United. The space then opened up in front of Jess to drive towards the box and unleash a curling finish towards the far post.
Come the end of February, she could well be nominated for Goal of the Month again.
FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE IN-GAME
Substitutions in the second half, from the double change at the interval to Dominique Janssen coming on and later Jayde Rivere being forced off injured, saw United players reshuffle and switch positions a number of times.
Hanna Lundkvist began the second half at left-back when she replaced Gabby George, but switched over to the right once Riviere went off. Janssen was initially asked to go into midfield, but her and Julia Zigiotti both seemed to have brief spells at right-back, as Riviere pushed forward after Ellen Wangerheim was withdrawn. But Dom then moved out to left-back.
Lisa Naalsund started the game in central midfield, then at half-time advanced into the no.10 role she has played a few times in recent weeks when Simi Awujo was replaced by the deeper Zigiotti.
Even Park moved from left to right to allow Layla Drury to play on her favoured left flank when the teenager was brought on.