Marc Skinner was looking to the positives as his side were knocked out of the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup after a 3-1 loss to holders Chelsea.
United were 2-0 down just after the half-hour mark, thanks to goals from Pernille Harder and Jessie Fleming, before Vilde Boa Risa pulled one back for the visitors and gave them a glimmer of hope.
It was not to be for the Reds as Jess Carter restored Chelsea’s two-goal lead which was ultimately enough to send them into next month’s final.
“It's a little bit bittersweet in terms of for us to just perform a little bit better [but not win] because I know my group wants to win these games and we know how difficult they are,” Skinner said.
"But we want to be in positions to win this so it's a bit bittersweet but we have closed the gap, we've got better.
“I felt that in the first game we gave Chelsea a lot of their goals, in this game I think we can defend better and stop their goals.”
Chelsea scored six goals at Leigh Sports Village when the two sides met in the FA Barclays Women’s Super League earlier this season.
Manchester United were much improved at Kingsmeadow this time out as they defended resolutely in the second half, even as keeper Sophie Baggaley was shown a straight red card for taking down Sam Kerr in the 75th minute.
Skinner added: "It's really good run by Jess [Carter] and so on but if we kept our positions and we defend that 4v1 they don't go into those spaces.
“So we've definitely got better and we'll continue to get better, we just know that in these games when you come up against the likes of Chelsea you've got to take those moments and we're going to keep working at that."
United will now turn their attention to another visit to London, this time to take on league leaders Arsenal on Saturday, where United have the chance to move second, just two points behind the Gunners.
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