Manchester United’s impressive displays this season have seen them force their way into the title conversation in the Women’s Super League.
Yet they were quickly brought back down to earth on Sunday evening by a Chelsea side who ruthlessly made them pay for their lapses in concentration in their 3-1 defeat at Leigh Sports Village.
The statistics may show that United fell short as they once again failed to find a way to beat the Blues in the league, but are they getting any closer to cracking that top three?
“They are a different team to 12 months ago and they just have to start believing – that was a big part of tonight, they needed that concentration and belief,” former England midfielder Karen Carney told Sky Sports.
“I feel like they are getting closer, Chelsea made mistakes but they don’t get punished or they can kind of figure their way out of it.
“I do think Chelsea were the better side and more experienced and more resilient. But they [United] are getting closer.”
The defeat ended United’s perfect record in the league this season, and manager Marc Skinner told BBC Radio 5 Sport Extra: “You get the experience by playing against it, and for us, we know where we’re at, we know where we want to be, we know how hungry we are as a team.
“We know what we have to do to bridge those gaps and that’s what we’re going to work extremely hard on – we’re not going to rest until we have.”
United came into the game having not conceded a goal in the league but Skinner was disappointed with the manner in which his side suffered this defeat.
Maria Thorisdottir gave the ball away cheaply for Sam Kerr’s opener and a looping ball over the United defence allowed Lauren James to double Chelsea’s lead.
“I felt we were outdone by lapses in concentration, you let yourself go in one minute in these games and Chelsea punish you,” said Skinner.
Alessia Russo pulled one back for the hosts when Chelsea made an individual error of their own but Skinner said his side need to be better in the “big moments” to compete with the WSL’s best sides.
United may have five wins under their belt this season but they have all come from sides in the mid to bottom half of the league.
This was United’s first real test and physically and mentally, it was a tough one.
“These are the moments that matter in big games, I don’t want my team to fear trying to play out but these are the moments when Chelsea had the edge.
“Big games can be tight – but speed of thought and concentration has hurt us second half and that for me is the next step for us – it’s that elite level mentality, being ready to make the right decisions all of the time.”
It was a disappointment shared by Carney, who added: “I’m frustrated for them because I’ve really enjoyed their growth over the last six months but they’ve got to stay in it in the big moments.”
United will have to learn fast as they face another tough test on their return from international break as they face top-of-the-league Arsenal.
Hayes close to return for buoyant Chelsea
For Chelsea, going for their fourth consecutive WSL title, their defeat against Liverpool in the opening game looks like a distant memory as they recorded their sixth win on the spin.
General manager Paul Green said his team were “well worthy winners” in front of a record home crowd in Leigh.
“We knew we’d have to be patient with them not conceding all season but we knew we had the weapons to hurt them and coming and scoring three goals shows that.”
“We’re getting back to our best, good defensive performance, in general defending was really good and we were solid.”
Chelsea head into the international break level on points with leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
“There’s definitely more to come throughout the season, we’re getting better and stronger,” said Green. “We look forward to seeing where this team can go.
“It’s the best squad we’ve ever had, [we’re] confident with the business we did in the summer so we have to try and take momentum into games after international break and see where it can take us.”
And Green, who has been looking after the team along with assistant coach Denise Reddy, was optimistic that manager Emma Hayes would soon be back on the training field with her team after recovering from a hysterectomy.
“Denise and myself during this period have always tried to make sure the team is going to be in a good place when Emma Hayes returns.
“We are hopeful that’s going to be during the international break and she will be back with us on the touchline for the next game if it all goes well in the next two weeks.”
