United in Numbers: Stoppage-time scenes

As pointed out by our friends at Opta, Melvine Malard’s 94th-minute winner in last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Everton was our latest-ever winning goal in the WSL.

Ninety-three minutes and 46 seconds were on the clock when our French forward got in front of Toffees goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan and headed home Fridolina Rolfo’s inswinging corner from the right, to secure an important three points for Marc Skinner’s side.

The goal felt even more significant as a last-gasp clincher because Everton had only just cancelled out Elisabeth Terland’s first-half opener, seconds before the end of normal time, through Inma Gabarro.

According to Opta, that equaliser – timed at 89 minutes and 47 seconds – is the latest leveller conceded in the competition’s history by a team who went on to win.

Malard’s heroics produced scenes of wild celebration and joyous relief on the pitch, by the benches and in the stands at the Progress With Unity Stadium, while surpassing what was previously our latest WSL winner, recorded nearly three years ago.

That was another stoppage-time header, scored by Millie Turner, as United kept our 2022/23 title hopes alive by triumphing 3-2 at Aston Villa, in the run-in.

The Reds centre-back, also on the pitch and involved in the celebrations last weekend, rose highest on that April 2023 occasion to nod in a Katie Zelem free-kick from the right flank.

Ninety-two minutes and 46 seconds of the match had been played when Turner came up with the goods, making Malard’s new record exactly a minute later.

Third on the list in these stakes is our decisive effort in the corresponding Villa fixture on the opening weekend of the following season, netted by Rachel Williams.

This time at Villa Park rather than the Bescot Stadium in Walsall, Williams ensured United got the 2023/24 term off to a winning start, by tracking Nikita Parris’s deflected cross as it looped up in the air, before heading the ball back across goal and into the far bottom corner, in the 92nd minute.

Our fourth and fifth latest WSL winners, meanwhile, both came in the 91st minute of their respective fixtures, in the 2022/23 season.

Of the two, we had to wait just that little bit longer for Lucia Garcia’s derby decider at home to City, a right-footed strike which had enough power to beat goalkeeper Khiara Keating and officially clinch UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time in the team’s history.

It was clocked just five seconds beyond Alessia Russo’s famous turnaround-completer away to Arsenal, earlier that campaign.

Russo’s headed connection with another precise Zelem delivery was our first-ever stoppage-time settler in the WSL, and the cue for unforgettable scenes in front of our away end at the Emirates Stadium, as a United team in our neon-green third kit of the time wheeled over in jubilation.

UNITED’S LATEST WSL WINNERS

93:46 – Melvine Malard v Everton (21 March 2026)
92:46 – Millie Turner v Aston Villa (28 April 2023)
91:44 – Rachel Williams v Aston Villa (1 October 2023)
90:40 – Lucia Garcia v Manchester City (21 May 2023)
90:35 – Alessia Russo v Arsenal (19 November 2022)

Thank you to Opta for their help with the statistics.

MORE DRAMA THIS WEEKEND?

United Women host league leaders Man City at Old Trafford this Saturday lunchtime, in what is a battle between the WSL’s top two.

Kick-off is at 13:30 GMT and tickets are available to buy here.

We would love your support in M16 and it could well spur the Reds on to another dramatic victory!