Eva Olid’s Manchester United Women’s team has three wins in a row after a 5-1 victory against Durham on Wednesday in the Women’s League Cup group stage. The team showed off its potential to find the net in a 10-1 win to start the cup campaign last week and further padded the goal advantage in the group table.
Manchester United lined up with quite a few changes to the team after the Sunday win over West Ham United. Lea Schuller replaced Elisabeth Terland up front with Ellen Wangerheim taking over in the No.
10 role. Simi Awujo and Monica Jusu Bah operated on the flanks while Rebeca Bernal and Mared Griffiths anchored the midfield.
The back line featured regulars Maya Le Tissier and Dominique Janssen at center back, but manager Eva Olid handed starts to Hanna Lundkvist and Jess Simpson at right and left back respectively, with Janina Leitzig getting the start between the posts.
The Reds got on the scoresheet early with Schuller bundling the ball over the line in the 11th minute. The Reds had dominated possession to that point and would do so for the rest of the match, but did have to respond to an equalizer by Lucy Watson in the 19th minute. Durham held firm to take the draw into halftime, but the momentum was going all United’s way in the second half.
The Reds got back in front via a free kick from Janssen just before the hour mark. Her effort from distance rewarded a positive start to the second half and set the tone for the remaining half hour of play. Monica Jusu Bah scored her first goal for the club 10 minutes later with a shot from the top of the box and Griffiths kept up her League Cup form with a goal of her own just before full-time. Terland added a fifth in stoppage time to complete the dominant display.
The victory made it two wins from two for Olid’s side in the League Cup campaign. A 10-1 victory against Sheffield United last week set the goalscoring tone to give them a heavy boost in goal difference, and now the team has to keep up the momentum going back into Women’s Super League action this weekend.
With three wins in a row, the Reds will try to keep up the streak against rivals Liverpool at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday.
