Manchester United manager Casey Stoney said that she wanted to finish in the top three of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table this season and The Red Devils took one small step closer to that goal with their 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
United now sit fourth level on points with Chelsea and manager Stoney was naturally very pleased with her side’s performance against Brighton & Hove Albion at The Leigh Sports Village.
“We are happy” she stated when speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time after the match. “We got a clean sheet, we scored three goals, could we have scored more? Yes. Are there things we need to work on and improve? Yeah absolutely.”
Opponents Brighton & Hove Albion have already shown this season that they will be tough to break down defensively, as United’s city rivals will attest to. Yet, United were gifted an opportunity early on when Maya Le Tissier barged into Alessia Russo to concede a penalty.
Speaking about that key moment, Stoney said “I think it changes the game doesn’t it, in terms of them having to come out a little bit more.
“I thought they put us under immense pressure after we did score the penalty, I thought their direct play caused us problems at times.
“I have to commend my players for dealing with it and defending first and second balls.
“We just want to keep putting points on the board, keep getting performances and I’m really pleased today with a clean sheet because I thought Brighton put us under a lot of pressure at certain times, especially with their direct play.”
Manchester United currently have six players missing for various reasons and Stoney went on to comment on her depleted squad. She said “To be honest, we’ve got more out than I would like.
“Having said that, we didn’t have a bad bench today, did we?
“We had two World Cup winners, a Scottish international and an England international.
“We’re hoping we’ll get some back potentially Wednesday and if not, then Sunday.
“We’ve got new players to integrate, I’ve got to say they’re integrating brilliantly in such a short space of time, I’m not sitting and complaining when I’ve got Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Jane Ross, and Lucy Staniforth sitting on the bench, I can’t.
“Yes, we’ve took a lot of knocks and we’ve got a few injuries but it’s really pleasing that they’ve linked up and got a goal. They are game changers, they come on and make a difference.”
The combination of Heath and Ross bagged United their third goal and killed off the game to earn them all three points. The future is looking bright for the club as they keep pace with the leading pack and Stoney admits that is relishing being at the helm.
She added “It’s a dream to be working with this group.
“Many more games to come, we’ve got a lot to work on, a lot to improve, that will take time especially with new players coming in.
“It’s exciting for the football club but it’s one performance at a time.”
Manchester United are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Liverpool in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup.
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