TeamViewer Trending: Amazing Grace

In the interim, the gifted young midfielder had embarked on two productive loan spells with Bristol City and Tottenham – earning the WSL’s PFA Young Player of the Year award for her work at the latter – and stepped up to make her full England debut earlier this year. 

Thrown into the midfield engine room against West Ham United at Old Trafford, Grace turned in a magnificent performance which yielded both the Player of the Match award and her first first-ever goal for the Reds during a 3-0 win to mark a perfect start to the campaign.

As she succinctly put it: “Debuts don’t get better than that, for me.”

STANDOUT MOMENT

First-half efforts from Geyse and Leah Galton had United in a position of power at the interval, and Grace tightened the hosts’ stranglehold on proceedings with a sublime clinching goal in the 53rd minute. 

As the Reds probed around the left side of the West Ham area, a half-hit clearance from Hammers skipper Katrina Gorry only travelled as far as Lisa Naalsund, whose interception served as the perfect set-up for a half-volleyed cross which curled over the penalty spot, towards the far post. The Norwegian’s delivery, while immaculate, still needed the right treatment to end up in the Stretford End goal, and the lurking Clinton applied it with a magnificently deft header which sped just inside the upright, giving visiting goalkeeper Kinga Szemik absolutely no chance.

When asked to dissect the goal in her post-match interview, Grace was keen to shift the focus onto both Naalsund’s delivery and United’s pre-match preparations, stressing: “To be honest, I’m not thinking much [about the finish], just about the area that I know I need to go and then just to head it down. We’ve been practicing that in training, but it’s an unbelievable ball from Lisa – she’s just hit it perfectly – and those are the areas we’ve been told to get into, so it was just like on the training pitch.” 

Further evidence that practice makes perfect.

PERFORMANCE INSIGHT

Ahead of the game, speculation had surrounded the utilisation of Clinton on her long-awaited arrival in United’s senior squad. 

The notion of playing two creative attacking midfielders in tandem by naming both Grace and Ella Toone in the starting XI might have appeared fanciful in theory, but the pair had linked up to great effect on the international stage back in February, after which Reds legend Toone admitted: “I absolutely loved it [playing with Grace]. She's a great player, a lot of talent, very good on the ball. To link up with her, we've never done that before, we've never played together but it felt so natural. I knew where she was and she knew where I was as well, so it was really nice.” 

In the run-up to the 2024/25 curtain raiser at Old Trafford, Clinton had returned the compliment, saying: “She makes me feel so comfortable. I do love playing with her and we've done well so far. We’ve been on the same team in pre-season. Obviously, I don't know what that looks like when the league starts but for me, if I get to play with her, then I'll be really, really happy.”

The results spoke for themselves and, after the pair had both caught the eye in advanced positions against the Hammers, Grace admitted that it had been a tactical triumph for manager Marc Skinner. 

“With the quality that we have in our team, obviously with Tooney in there as another 10, it would be silly not to utilise our strengths,” she said. “I think it worked perfectly, but there’s a lot more still to come. It was a good game but there’s a lot to come from us.”

POST-MATCH REACTION

During her post-match post-mortem with MUTV, the youngster discussed the evolution in her game after her temporary spells with Bristol City and Spurs. Having given Old Trafford a taste of her talents, Grace expanded on how she had equipped herself for her long-awaited bow. 

“I think with just a little bit more experience,” she explained. “Obviously playing in the WSL is not easy, it’s very quick, so being able to have a full year under my belt of playing and getting used to that tempo is good experience. I think I’m still learning a lot and getting coached a lot by the staff here as well.” 

Manager Skinner, keen to celebrate a collective triumph, stressed: “If we can be the most together team we can, we can have a really good season. We were history makers last year and we really want to chase that up this season.” The Reds boss did, however, make a brief concession to salute his debutant, admitting: “Grace was superb today.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Grace became just the third United player to score on her WSL debut for the Reds, and the first to do so at Old Trafford.

Previously, skipper Maya Le Tissier bagged an unexpected brace in a 4-0 victory over Reading in September 2022, before Melvine Malard netted against Arsenal in October 2023 during a 2-2 draw.