Ruthless United Strike Again

In what was perhaps their best performance of the season, Manchester United were dominant against a sloppy Brighton and Hove Albion.

In their last WSL fixture, Manchester United ran out 4-2 winners against Manchester City. Their attack in that game was ruthless; particularly the efforts of Ella Toone and Elisabeth Terland, who have developed a great relationship up front.

Tonight, Terland and Toone started again. The link between the two was a major part of United’s press, and Terland unselfishly provided a pass to Toone that allowed her to open the scoring a mere two minutes into the match.

For much of the opening 45 minutes of the game, Brighton could not keep hold of the ball. They were sloppy, and their insistence on passing out from the back caused trouble again and again. United were ruthless, and Miyazawa made it 2-0 within the opening 15 minutes.

After half time, Brighton made three changes, which seemed to have a positive impact on their performance. They were slightly tighter on the ball, and Parris managed to break forward and create chances. However, United’s defence was strong – Janssen, George, Turner and Le Tissier in particular had strong games. Brighton were unable to break the deadlock.

Just moments before she was due to be substituted, Celin Bizet broke through Brighton’s line again and scored a wonderful volley, smashing the ball into the net unassisted. This ended up being the last goal of a dominant display from United, gaining them important points that were essential to keep their place in the top three of the WSL.

FULL-TIME: Manchester United 3-0 Brighton

Teams:Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere (Mannion 78’), Le Tissier ©, Turner, George (Sandberg 78’), Miyazawa, Janssen, Bizet (Malard 70’), Toone (Clinton 70’), Galton, Terland (Williams 86’)

Brighton: Baggaley, Pattison, Bergsvand, Thorisdottir, Olislagers (Carabali 46’), Cankovic (Stefanovic 86’), Losada © (Symonds 46’), Mclauchlan, Vilamala (Bremer 46’), Haley (Agyemang 74’), Parris

Referee: Cheryl Foster