Manchester United Women got back into the win column on Sunday, taking down visitors West Ham after a nervy second half. Manager Marc Skinner had to shake three defeats in the last four matches, but did so thanks to a winning goal to remember.
The match marked the return of No. 1 goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who had missed several weeks with a fractured eye socket injury. She didn’t get a clean sheet on her return, but she did register two saves as United tried to fend off two comeback attempts
by the Hammers.
The Reds were searching for an opener early, and were nearly rewarded after 15 minutes or so. Elisabeth Terland saw two efforts parried away in a span of just two minutes, and Melvine Malard sent one just over the target soon after that.
Terland was booked before she found her way onto the scoresheet, punished for a late challenge in the Hammers’ final third, but she did find her way onto the latter list before the break.
Anna Sandberg found Terland for a tap-in with an excellent low cross across goal, and the Norwegian forward obliged with a calm finish. She had a chance to find a brace moments later on a counter attack led by Jess Park, but again her effort was parried away. The rebound almost bounced perfectly for Zigiotti, but she couldn’t adjust in time to double the lead.
The second half began with more frustration up front, failing to find a final ball through, and the Reds were punished for thei wasted chances with a stunning effort by the visitors. Shekiera Martinez attempted an overhead kick from the center of the box, and the effort looped high towards the far post, where PTJ tried and failed to stop it from bouncing off the post and in to equalize. The replay showed it may have come off of her arm while attempting to save, but goal credit went to Martinez.
The Reds went back on the offensive, and Zigiotti nearly put them back in front with a strike from distance, only to see it whack against the upright. Jayde Riviere served as a primary creator from the right hand side, setting up Malard just after the hour mark, but the ball wasn’t finding the target.
The Reds did get back in front thanks to a laser beam free kick from Dutch defender Dominique Janssen. She hit her shot from about 22 yards out, curling it to the left of the wall across the keeper’s body and sending her the wrong way.
The visitors had a pair of decent chances with about 10 minutes left to play, but United’s dominance of possession helped them to see out the victory and start their push to stay in the top three. They sit in third on 20 points, one behind Chelsea and seven behind leaders Manchester City.
