United's top five Women's Super League games in 2022/23

It marked our 18th win out of 22, and though we narrowly missed out on the title, we earned a first-ever top-three finish and a spot in the Champions League for next term. 

Across the season we dug deep and provided some unforgettable moments for our remarkable fans, who travelled home and away to support us. 

With that in mind, we’ve picked out five of our best WSL games that played their part in helping us break new ground… 

United 2-1 City

Our penultimate game of the season saw us welcome rivals Manchester City to Leigh Sports Village, where a win saw us guarantee at least a second-placed finish. 

Hayley Ladd got the Reds off to a flying start with an outrageous strike from outside the area, before Filippa Angeldahl levelled the score in the second half. City looked as though they were in to score a winner in the approach to full-time, but for Maya Le Tissier’s heroics to block a goal-bound effort from Khadija Shaw. 

Last-minute winners became a growing theme across our league campaign in 2022/23, so it was fitting that we once again cropped up in ‘Fergie time’ to snatch all three points at the death. Second-half substitute Vilde Boe Risa and Lucia Garcia combined for an enthralling finale to the game, with the latter adding the finishing touch to the move. 

It marked our first-ever win over our rivals in the WSL; a fitting way to ensure our top three finish.

Arsenal 2-3 United

Unsurprisingly, many United fans will have our away visit to the Emirates in November up there as one of their favourite games of the season.

Ella Toone's back-post finish opened the scoring, before Frida Maanum hit back for the visitors immediately after half-time. The Gunners took the lead in the approach to the final 15 minutes, before a thumping Millie Turner header with five to go spurred us on to an exhilarating finish. 

Alessia Russo appears to be developing quite the habit of scoring against Arsenal, adding yet another to her tally in the 90th minute when she headed home Katie Zelem’s corner to secure all three points. Our no.23 was on target against the Gunners yet again in the reverse fixture at LSV later in the season, helping us to secure a league double over the visitors, becoming just the third club to do so in the WSL. 

Aston Villa 2-3 United

Another game, another five-goal thriller. Knowing there was simply no room for error in the WSL title race, United’s run-in began with the 1-0 win over Arsenal at LSV, before facing a tough Aston Villa side away from home. 

The Villans opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, thanks to prolific forward Rachel Daly. United soon hit back, though, with Leah Galton finishing Ona Batlle’s sublime cross. Daly was quick to restore her side’s lead with a sweeping volley before half-time, leaving the Reds with all the work to do. 

Nikita Parris headed home Blundell’s pin-point cross to see us level for a second time, with Marc Skinner’s side soon surging forward in search of another late winner. When Boe Risa won a free-kick deep in the opposition’s half, the opportunity to clinch all three points and keep our title hopes alive presented itself. Another combination of Zelem and Turner proved a winning formula for United, with the latter heading beyond a stranded Hannah Hampton, prompting delirium from our players, the Reds bench, and the away end. 

Reading 0-1 United

There are certainly a handful of games during the 2022/23 season that demonstrated the sheer resilience and ‘never say die' attitude of Skinner's side, and our trip to Reading falls into that category.

It was arguably one of the most frustrating 90 minutes of the campaign for United, until Rachel Williams found the breakthrough minutes from the end to see us pick up maximum points and maintain our charge at the top of the table. 

That game also saw our formidable goalkeeper, Mary Earps, make league history by reaching 50 WSL clean sheets, becoming the first shot-stopper to do so. 

United 6-0 Liverpool

Wins in football matter, of course, but wins against your rivals matter just that little bit more for many fans. Our first game of the new year saw us face Liverpool for the first time in the 2022/23 season and United made it a memorable one for the LSV faithful. 

Garcia was on target to open the scoring inside 10 minutes before Russo and Ladd made it three before the half-time whistle. An own goal extended our tally to four, while Martha Thomas and Rachel Williams scored after entering the fray late on. 

We also completed the double over Liverpool in the final game of our season, with Garcia thumping home the sole goal of the game to draw the curtain on a memorable term.