Man Utd 3-0 Tottenham: Player ratings as Russo & Galton wreak havoc in WSL
From Leigh Sports Village - Manchester United made it four WSL wins in row with a 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, inching closer to securing a first ever top three finish and continuing to put pressure on their title rivals as the season nears its conclusion.
Tottenham, meanwhile, must keep looking nervously over their shoulder near the bottom.
Although Spurs had Tinja-Riikka Korpela to thank for keeping them in the game, United took a comfortable lead into half-time thanks to goals from Leah Galton and Alessia Russo, while Nikita Parris made certain of the victory early in the second.
It was almost a lightning start from the hosts when Ona Batlle surged forward down the right and sent a low cross into the six-yard. But Spurs goalkeeper Korpela managed to divert Galton’s close-range finish out for a corner.
That was immediately followed by a period of sustained pressure from Tottenham. Mary Earps gratefully clutched a driven Molly Bartrip shot from 30 yards, while Maya Le Tissier somehow got back to deny Bethany England a certain goal after taking the ball round Earps soon after.
End to end and being played at 100mph, Korpela made a smart parry from Russo and later a point-blank save from Nikita Parris – she wasn’t to know in that moment the latter was offside. The Finn also plucked a dangerous chipped cross from Hannah Blundell out of the air, while Galton hit the bar with a header from a corner – again, a whistle ensured it wouldn’t have counted.
United had their lead just over half an hour in, but it ended up being the result of a mistake rather than a well-crafted move. Former LSV favourite Amy Turner was guilty of a mis-placed back-pass that Galton ran onto and finished with composure beyond Korpela.
Barely any time had passed before it was 2-0. Korpela was again in action to spectacularly parry behind from Vilde Boe Risa’s power drive. But Spurs couldn’t deal with the resultant corner and Russo was on hand inside the box to smash a volley into the net.
Even with United seemingly cruising, Spurs almost got one back out of nowhere before half-time when Jessica Naz countered down the left and Celin Bizet Ildhusoy headed her cross onto the post.
The start to the second half was not as frenetic, with United in control of things, but it still wasn’t long before Parris had made it 3-0. Korpela had already saved from Russo just before and just after the goal, but she stood no chance when the defenders in front of her made a mess of dealing with a Galton cross and Parris was there for the simple control and finish.
United very nearly gifted Spurs one back when England ran onto a loose pass and cut it back for Mana Iwabuchi, but she couldn’t beat Earps and neither could fellow sub Rosella Ayane on the rebound. As the minutes ticked by, England’s frustration with a near post header that missed the target suggested she thought she could have done better.
Both managers had made a number of substitutes throughout the second half, which once the game was over as a contest, killed the kind of momentum that had made the first half so compelling. In amongst those changes was a United debut for January signing Jayde Riviere.
Man Utd player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Mary Earps - 7/10 - Made a comfortable save early on, but it was a big double save in the second half that handed her another deserved clean sheet.
RB: Ona Batlle - 7/10 - Created United's first chance of the game that set the tone for the team.
CB: Maya Le Tissier - 7/10 - An incredible tackle on Bethany England in the first few minutes stopped Spurs taking an shock early lead.
CB: Millie Turner - 7/10 - Back in the starting XI after her heroics off the bench last time out.
LB: Hannah Blundell - 8/10 - Pressed high to force mistake that gifted her team's opening goal and defended supremely well.
CM: Vilde Boe Risa - 7/10 - Filled in the deep-lying Katie Zelem role expertly. Pulled the strings
CM: Hayley Ladd (c) - 7/10 - Stepped into the captaincy and broke up play well.
RM: Nikita Parris - 7/10 - A clear danger and got in behind a few times on the right, before scoring the killer third goal.
AM: Ella Toone - 8/10 - Started the game by regularly running beyond the Spurs midfield and was constantly invovled in seemingly every attack.
LM: Leah Galton - 8/10 - Expertly broke the deadlock with a composed finish and even managed an assist by flicking the ball on for Russo to score. Always threatened.
ST: Alessia Russo - 8/10 - Scored a thumping goal to make it 2-0 and played her usual game dragging the Spurs defence all over the place to make space for others.
Substitutes
SUB: Martha Thomas (63' for Parris) - 7/10
SUB: Lucia Garcia (73' for Galton) - 6/10
SUB: Aoife Mannion (74' for Le Tissier) - 6/10
SUB: Rachel Williams (74' for Toone) - 6/10
SUB: Jayde Riviere (86' for Batlle) - N/A
Manager
Marc Skinner - 8/10 - His team played with the energy and tempo he would have wanted from the early stages. Able to make changes and rest key players ahead of next weekend's FA Cup final once the game was over as a contest.
Tottenham player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Tinja-Riikka Korpela - 7/10 - On hand to make a number of saves and Spurs could easily have conceded a lot more without her. Tried to take the sting out of the game in the first half with plenty of strategic time-wasting as well.
RB: Amy Turner - 4/10 - First appearanc back at Leigh as an opposition player wasn't a memorable one after inadvertently gifting her old club the lead with a poor pass. Galton gave her no end of hell.
CB: Molly Bartip - 5/10 - Took a first half yellow card for cleaning out Russo and was then walking a tightrope. Had nervy moments after that.
CB: Shelina Zadorsky (c) - 5/10 - Back on the pitch in a Spurs shirt for the first time since February. Culpable for the third goal by failing to deal with the cross.
LB: Kerys Harrop - 5/10 - Had her work cut out to deal with the pace of Parris and Toone often pulling to the inside channel as well.
CM: Drew Spence - 4/10 - Saw hardly any of the ball and spent most of her time running back towards her own goal in pursuit of the opposition.
CM: Angharad James - 4/10 - Never got a foothold in the game as United overran midfield.
CM: Kit Graham - 4/10 - Gave the ball away too freely and didn't create chances.
RW: Celin Bizet Idhusoy - 5/10 - Could easily have had a first half goal out of nowhere had a header been a few centimetres to the left.
ST: Bethany England - 6/10 - Had a clear sight of goal early in the first half after taking the ball past Earps, but was denied by a world class tackle. Missed with a header in the second half but was mostly feeding off scraps throughout.
LW: Jessica Naz - 6/10 - An obvious threat on the counter with her pace and did provide the cross that saw Spurs hit the post. Off at half-time, presumably to manage her minutes.
Substitutes
SUB: Rosella Ayane (46' for Naz) - 6/10
SUB: Ashleigh Neville (59' for Bizet Ildhusoy) - 5/10
SUB: Mana Iwabuchi (59' for Graham) - 6/10
SUB: Ria Percival (59' for Spence) - 5/10
SUB: Ramona Petzelberger (77' for Turner) - 5/10
Manager
Vicky Jepson - 6/10 - Made the point after drawing 2-2 with Brighton that her team can't afford to let teams keep getting ahead, so will be disappointed it was a mistake that put United in front here and that it was a mistake that killed it at 3-0. Made subs after that point to save her starters.
Player of the match - Leah Galton (Man Utd)
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