It was a rue opportunity for Manchester United Women’s Team this Sunday when they visited Manchester City for the derby in the Women’s Super League.
The Red Devils had a chance to cement their third place, giving them the chance to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since their formation in 2018, but today’s 1-0 defeat could prove to be quite costly in the coming weeks.
From the beginning of the game, it was clear that United manager Marc Skinner opted for a more conservative approach, allowing City to have the ball and hit them in the break. And considering the team’s record when holding leads or playing a more defensive-minded style this season, it was a questionable decision, to say the least.
Regardless, City had the ball and they tested goalkeeper Mary Earps from the first minutes of the game, with United struggling to keep possession and usually going long for strikers Signe Bruun and Alessia Russo, which once again doesn’t play to the team’s strengths.
Despite some interesting individual efforts by the likes of Ella Toone and Ona Batlle, the reality is that United struggled to create something effective during large portions of the game and Caroline Weir’s goal in the 81st minute for City cannot be seen as anything else than well-deserved for the home team because they completely outclassed Skinner’s team during the whole game.
Overall, a disappointing day for United in terms of the result and the performance and it could prove to be costly in the next few weeks due to the fact that Tottenham could move up to third place if they win their game, thus making things a lot more complicated for the Red Devils to qualify for the Champions League.
There are still enough games for United to win and qualify to the top clubs competition, but it’s going to be very difficult along the way.
