Report and free match highlights from the Barclays Women's Super League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Leigh Sports Village as goals from Hayley Ladd and Lucia Garcia ensured the title race will be settled on the final day of the season
Monday 22 May 2023 09:09, UK
Manchester United ensured the WSL title race will continue until the final day of the season with a 2-1 derby win over 10-player Manchester City.
With leaders Chelsea having beaten Arsenal 2-0 in the day's early kick-off, if United had dropped points, Emma Hayes' Blues would have been crowned champions without kicking a ball.
Hayley Ladd's stunner inside the first two minutes gave the hosts the lead and, between Chloe Kelly hitting the crossbar on two occasions, City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck was sent off for a reckless challenge on Nikita Parris.
The visitors did work their way back into the game, when Filippa Angeldahl's cross dropped over the line after being misjudged by Mary Earps, but Lucia Garcia delighted a packed Leigh Sports Village with a dramatic winner in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
United stay second, two points behind Chelsea ahead of next Saturday's final day, knowing that a win against Liverpool and a slip-up by the Blues - either a defeat at Reading or a draw with a six-goal swing - would see them lift the title instead.
Head coach Marc Skinner, however, has conceded doing so may prove to be a step too far.
"We're still in title contention. We know we've got to expect Reading to almost perform a miracle, but if anyone can, Kelly [Chambers, Reading manager] and Phil [Cousins, Reading coach] can, right? Then we've got to beat a wonderful team in Matt [Beard] and Liverpool.
"It's still tough, but to do what we've done tonight makes it really special for me as a coach because last year, maybe there were a few doubters, but we've got on with it."
The result also means fourth-placed City are unlikely to make next season's Champions League. They need to win their final game against Everton, hope Arsenal lose at home to Villa, and achieve an 11-goal swing.
United made a relentless start. Skinner's side knew their brief and immediately set about executing it.
Ex-City forward Parris led a menacing early break and stayed on her feet admirably after being knocked off balance. The ball then found its way over to Ladd, who rolled the ball in front of herself and arrowed an unstoppable effort into the top right corner with Roebuck rooted to the spot.
But the relentless start lasted all of 15 minutes, which allowed City to come forward for the first time. Bunny Shaw dragged the ball away from a challenge and saw a fierce shot blocked, but the visitors kept the ball alive and Chloe Kelly rattled the underside of the crossbar after connecting with a loose ball.
Just before the break, the complexion of the derby changed altogether. Parris was released in behind the City defence and, after Roebuck raced from the area to clean her out, she was shown a red card. Leila Ouahabi was sacrificed, with 18-year-old Khiara Keating on to replace her.
Surprisingly, United did not fly out of the traps after the break. Instead, within five minutes of the restart, Alex Greenwood whipped in a teasing free-kick that Kelly met, sending a powerful header onto the crossbar. They were denied a penalty, too, when Ladd's foul on Shaw went unpunished.
With just over 20 minutes to play, City levelled. Angeldahl floated in a cross from the right, which caught Earps out, with the ball flying over the goalkeeper's head and into the net via the left-hand post. They might have won it in the closing minutes of the 90, too, had Maya Le Tissier's incredible slide tackle not thwarted Shaw.
United were not done, though. Hannah Blundell clipped a cross to the back post, which was kept alive by Vilde Boe Risa, with Garcia keeping a cool head to arrive in the six-yard box and fire the winner past Keating.
Manchester United's Marc Skinner:
"Manchester is definitely red tonight, right? We didn't play well second half, I thought we were electric first half. It's that void that when a team goes down to 10 players the gaps are there but you can't find them, and to be fair City pressed very high.
"Now we have the Champions League secured, that's a carrot for them going forward. With one game a week it is hard to give them all a go, but they sacrificed themselves for the team. As a coach it is the most beautiful team I have worked with because they do things as a collective."
"The fans have been incredible this season. Do you know what I think they are starting to expect a late goal now if we need one. For me I had a moment there, it is quite easy with the emotion that has gone into the season, everyone is tiring. I took the time to listen and to hear the voices and the cheers, and to take it all in. For me our fans are totally different to any other, they live and breathe it, and are something special."
Manchester City's Gareth Taylor:
"We didn't start the game well, but after we conceded, we were the team that was on the front foot. We were the team with impetus, then there was the red card. We had to tweak a few things, but the message from us was to still be positive and still be able to try and win the game. We did everything we could today.
"We needed a little bit of good fortune, but we didn't get it at the end and we certainly didn't get it from the referee; it was a stonewall penalty with Bunny Shaw - I don't see how that is in doubt whatsoever. But again, this referee seems to always come up with big decisions that go against us.
"We know a draw today would have been OK, a defeat's not good. We needed to try and win the game and when you're in that situation, the chips are down and the game's going against you, we had to go for it and we did. I'm really proud of the effort of the players. Sometimes in life you just don't get things that go your way."
Manchester United head to Liverpool on the final day of the Women's Super League season on Saturday May 27, while Manchester City finish their campaign at home to Everton. Both matches kick off at 2.30pm.
