The pressure on Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City has been eased following a dogged display against Manchester United with the two sides playing out a 2-2 draw at the Leigh Sports Village this afternoon.
Taylor’s team seemed to handle the occasion better than The Reds as City’s classy and experienced squad continues to contend with a host of absentees and an uncharacteristically inconsistent start to the season. City’s latest challenge saw them having to play 55 minutes of the Manchester derby without Georgia Stanway, who was sent off for a dangerous challenge.
The makeshift defender stamped into United winger Leah Galton’s thigh with the ball long gone, leaving the referee with no choice but to produce a red card on a day which again saw the standard of officiating left a lot to be desired.
While most might have feared the worst for City after losing a player, Taylor’s side continued to play their game and they took the lead following a quick free-kick that caught United unawares, with Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw dispatching a cross from the left with an unstoppable header only three minutes after Stanway’s dismissal.
The match had been relatively even but while Marc Skinner’s Reds looked laborious, slow and lacking in ideas, precision and incisiveness with their passing, Taylor’s Blues smartly worked the ball around United and deserved to take the lead.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with United looking toothless and City threatening to pounce on the break. The game only changed once United head coach Skinner made his first change, bringing on Lucy Staniforth for Kirsty Hanson.
United took a page out of City’s book, working a quick corner to Ella Toone whose cross was smartly finished at the near post by substitute Staniforth, catching City’s defence napping in the 72nd minute. Three minutes later and United had turned the game around.
Urged on to attack and get at City by the home crowd, United forward Alessia Russo, who had a quiet game by her standards, managed to eventually control Hannah Blundell’s pass, work space for herself and slot the ball home into the far corner, sending the United faithful into delirium.
It was short-lived though as City substitute, Ellen White, on for goalscorer Shaw, got herself on the scoresheet too, notching a 79th-minute equaliser after a long range effort from Jess Park cannoned off the bar onto United keeper Mary Earps’ back, leaving White with an easy tap-in.
United huffed and puffed trying to get a winner against the 10-players but they couldn’t break down City for a third time. For the blue side of Manchester, it is no doubt a welcome result, especially considering the circumstances in the build up to the game and the dismissal of Stanway, proving that they’re still a force to be reckoned with even with a player’s disadvantage. For the red side, questions about the new head coach’s style of play, suitability and game management will continue to linger as United looked naïve, a problem that has plagued the team since its inception in 2018.
The FA Women’s Continental League Cup is up next for both sides with Manchester City hosting Everton on Wednesday and Manchester United travelling to Durham on Thursday.
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