A second-half goal flurry for Manchester United against West Ham fired Marc Skinner's side to top of the Women’s Super League table as league leaders Chelsea lost to Manchester City over the weekend.
The spring slog has heated up a meaty title race in the WSL, and over the weekend it’s United who have emerged atop the pile heading into the last six league matches of the season courtesy of the victory on Saturday.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, this was no vintage United performance, and it was only through a second-half penalty by Katie Zelem that the deadlock was finally broken in United's favour. Hayley Ladd and a brace from Lucia Garcia eventually saw off a solid but limited West Ham and sent the nearly 28,000 inside Old Trafford into respective fits of paroxysms at the victory.
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And while Skinner adamantly insisted he would not watch Chelsea’s clash with title-rivals Manchester City, the final score favoured United heavily as Filippa Angeldahl and Lauren Hemp put City ahead inside the first half-hour and the reigning league champions failed to mount a counter-offensive. United now sit top of the WSL table ahead of Chelsea on goal difference.
Skinner maintained that valuable lessons were learned as United continue to mount their title challenge, and perhaps too a lesson in the value of squad rotation. An unchanged starting XI from the 1-0 Chelsea loss stepped up against the Hammers on Saturday, but it was second-half substitute Garcia - on for Nikita Parris - who ensured United suffered no ignominy at the Theatre of Dreams with the winger nabbing a brace.
Garcia’s chances have been limited this season due to Skinner’s reluctance to rotate his squad, but he lauded the performance from the 24-year-old off the back of an uncharacteristically poor performance against Lewes in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
"We had a meeting with Lucia on Wednesday, we reviewed the Lewes game where she didn't play anywhere near her best," he said.
"She was great after that meeting and great today. We signed her because she can do that for 90 minutes, she just needs time to settle.
"The way she moves, the way she presses, she was excellent. Now we have nearly a half of footage to show her the Garcia we need."
United have a mixed bag of fixtures remaining, with relegation-threatened Brighton up next but matches against Arsenal and City still to play. An FA Cup semi-final clash against Brighton also sits on the horizon.
But the Reds showed the grittiness and conviction needed to mount a title win in their unglamorous victory over the weekend, and as the spring slog continues, those points could prove the critical margins.
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