Tom Garry was at Leigh Sports Village tonight, and here’s his verdict. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor speaks to the BBC. “I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied because we always play the games to try to win them … but it’s a tough place to come and play … we were better out of possession in the second half … we created some really good opportunities and scored a great goal … we couldn’t score more than one … but to be fair the draw is the result that reflects most of the game … we tried to be in control … especially in the last 30 minutes … the players who came in did well … energy and quality … some good opportunities … we could have scored but Man United are a good team … good individuals so maybe a fair result tonight.”
… then on her yellow card: “I am smiling because for me the call was a wrong call … it was clear to everyone except the referee … so I showed my frustration … of course I know you can’t do that when you are the manager because you have to lead by example but we also lead by emotions … I still think it was the wrong call.”
Manchester United boss Marc Skinner talks to the BBC. “I thought it was two teams that wanted to win the game … high level with and without the ball … a fair point in the end … but not for the lack of both teams trying to win it … a good game for the neutral … probably a fair result … the most brave performance … and we’re building … you can sense it … we’re disappointed … the chances we created, not many do that against Chelsea … credit to them … and all the fans that came out to see us tonight … we defended really well … we’ll take the point … move forward … we want more … we’re going to make sure we do that in every other game as well … as best we can.”
On Jess Park saying she is frustrated with a point against the champions: “I agree … I want us to act like that … we want more … that’s what we breed into our players … if they’re saying that, which is nice to hear, it means we’re heading in the right direction … hungry for success.”
… and finally time to throw the gauntlet down. “We’ll give absolutely everything … it shows to Chelsea that they’re not just going to walk the league … we need to make sure that everybody puts a challenge in … the league is getting better and you saw the quality tonight that we’re progressing to.”
A cheerful Jess Park, player of the match, speaks to the BBC. “We played really well … as did Chelsea … it was a brilliant game … we needed to be a bit cleaner and more clinical with the ball … there were moments we defended brilliantly … Maya [Le Tissier]’s last-ditch tackle was phenomenal … we’ll take the draw but we want to win these games … we really competed … obviously it’s frustrating because we want to take the win … you never want to settle for a draw, but, y’know … we’re creating some really good moments … we need to put them to bed but it’s coming together.”
That was an entertaining game. Both sides scored fine early goals, and it’s something of a surprise that another didn’t come. Because both teams were front-foot from the get-go. Manchester United recovered after a slow start to string together several smooth moves, Jess Park earning the player of the match award on the BBC. Chelsea weren’t quite as consistent over the 90 minutes, but carved out some big chances during the periods in which they’d put the pedal to the floor. It should be an exciting race for the title on this evidence.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
United still haven’t beaten Chelsea in the WSL … but they have ensured that the champions’ 100-percent start to the season is over.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 2 | Man Utd Women | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| 3 | Man City Women | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Arsenal Women | 4 | 7 | 8 |
90 min +3: Thompson burns her way past Sandberg on the right. She crosses deep for Beever-Jones, who is inches away from the contact that would surely lead to a goal. But it’s not going to happen. Goal kick. That will probably be that.
90 min +2: A huge chance for Chelsea! Nusken with the ball at her feet in the box, and in space, just to the left of centre. She shoots, but Le Tissier arrives out of nowhere to block! Nothing comes from the resulting corner. That probably should have been the winner.
90 min +1: Reiten crosses low from the left. Beever-Jones sticks out a leg in the hope of ramming home, but the presence of Le Tissier forces her to slice wide left.
90 min: There will be four added minutes. Can either side find a heartwarming/breaking winner?
89 min: Bjorn tugs back Toone, and it’s a free kick for United in Chelsea territory. Earlier in the move, Walsh had tugged back Park in the cynical style. She’s lucky not to go into the book. Then the set piece is taken … and what a waste.
87 min: Beever-Jones spins and hits a low shot-cum-cross that Tullis-Joyce doesn’t really deal with. The ball breaks to Walsh on the edge of the box. Walsh attempts to thread a shot into the bottom left, past the unsettled keeper, but Tullis-Joyce makes up for her earlier error with a superb full-length stop.
85 min: Thompson nearly latches onto a weak backpass by Janssen. Tullis-Joyce comes out quickly to smother, and ensure no shot is taken. Janssen owes her keeper one there.
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84 min: Incidentally, Kerr was given the what-for by the home crowd when she came on. Perhaps as a result of this …
83 min: Chelsea replace Rytting Kaneryd with Reiten. Meanwhile Malard warms Tullis-Joyce’s hand with a snapshot from the inside-left position. This is in the balance for sure.
82 min: Williams – who scored the winner against United in the FA Cup semi-final two seasons ago – comes on for Rolfo. That was United’s first-ever win over Chelsea; can she score their first-ever winner against them in the WSL as well? Her a former Chelsea player, too.
80 min: Nusken’s first act is to ping a shot wide right from 25 yards.
79 min: The weather seems to have passed through.
78 min: Chelsea make a double change, sending on Kerr and Nusken for Macario and Cuthbert.
77 min: Carpenter goes barrelling down the inside-right channel. She doesn’t really have any options, so keeps going and prepares to shoot, only to run slap-bang into Sandberg.
76 min: Park’s low cross from the right is turned out for a corner by Bjorn. Before it can be taken, Riviere is replaced by Bizet. And then the corner is turbo-blootered clear by Macario.
75 min: A suggestion that, earlier in the move, Thompson had handled a Park flick on the edge of the Chelsea box. No penalty, and there’s no VAR. It may well have been outside the area anyway.
74 min: … but Sandberg releases the pressure with a wild shot from 25 yards. To be fair, she’s got credit in the bank after her spectacular goal.
73 min: United are enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Chelsea can’t get out.
71 min: This is properly in the balance, and the tension at the Progress with Unity Stadium is palpable.
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69 min: Fine shots at either end, by the subs. Thompson cuts in from the left and whistles one straight at Tullis-Joyce. Then Rolfo bustles hard down the middle before sending Malard into space down the inside-right; Malard fizzes a daisycutter inches wide of the left-hand post.
67 min: A throw comes in from the Chelsea right. Macario, on the right-hand corner of the box, spins and tees up Beever-Jones, whose first-time shot is deflected by Janssen. The ball loops hysterically over Tullis-Joyce, and so nearly drops back down, having travelled on an absurd parabola, into the bottom right. Just a corner, from which nothing comes. That would have been one to set to a jaunty trombone riff.
65 min: Cuthbert dribbles elegantly down the middle before laying off to Macario on her left. Macario slips further wide for Baltimore, whose low, driven cross is hooked clear under pressure by Zigiotti Olme from Beever-Jones. That’s some fine defensive work by the busy United midfielder.
64 min: A missive from our Tom Garry, in situ in Leigh:
I’m amazed there haven’t been more defensive errors from players slipping on the surface here. The rain is torrential now, once again swirling sideways across the pitch. There is hardy group of fans behind the goal to my left who appear to have accepted they are going to be soaked and they are embracing the wet conditions, dancing in the storm and exchanging chants with the travelling Chelsea fans.
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63 min: Toone bursts into the Chelsea box from the right. She’s got space and options, but her attempted cutback is no good whatsoever. A few irritated howls of anguish from the stands.
61 min: Macario gets the better of Sandberg down the left and sends a rising diagonal shot that’s clumsily parried away by Tullis-Joyce. It should be a corner, but United are the beneficiaries of a generous free kick, Macario judged to have wrestled Sandberg to the ground. Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor is booked for telling it as she sees it.
59 min: … so having said that, Park dances in from the left and screeches a shot from the edge of the D inches over the bar. Hampton was under it, but might not necessarily have got a fingertip to it. Malard comes on for Terland.
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58 min: Beever-Jones wins a corner down the right. The set piece nearly drops at the feet of Rytting Kaneryd, a couple of yards out, but the defence hacks clear again. All of a sudden, a second Chelsea goal feels the most likely development.
57 min: Chelsea have moved up a gear since the introduction of Thompson. Baltimore tears down the left and wins another corner. United deal with this one as well, but only just about, Miyazawa slicing into the stand. The champions doing champion things right now.
56 min: Walsh carves a long-range shot across Tullis-Joyce and wide of the bottom-right corner. The keeper had it covered all the way.
54 min: Thompson is immediately into the thick of the action, barrelling down the left and winning a corner off Riviere. Nothing comes of the set piece, but that’s better from Chelsea.
53 min: Cuthbert tries to wriggle upfield, and is hauled back in the Red Roses style by Zigiotti Olme.
52 min: Sonia Bompastor has already seen enough, and hooks Kaptein, sending on Thompson.
51 min: Walsh struggles to clear upfield. No room for a good old-fashioned pressure-releasing blooter, with Zigiotti Olme buzzing around her. It looks like the United midfielder has nicked the ball, but the whistle’s gone for an incredibly soft foul. That’s a generous one for Chelsea, who haven’t turned up for this second half yet.
50 min: A corner on the left leads to another on the right. From the second, Sandberg hooks infield from the right, and finds Rolfo, eight yards out. A header floats wide left. This is really good from Manchester United, though.
49 min: … and now Rolfo has a go from distance, aiming a curler towards the same corner. This one pings off Carpenter’s heel and loops over Hampton, bouncing out of play for a corner off the top of the crossbar.
48 min: Toone aims one towards the top-right corner from distance. It’s just over the bar. Not sure Hampton was getting to that, had it been on target.
47 min: It is really raining, to be fair. To use strict meteorological terminology: it’s Beyond Mancunian.
United get the ball rolling for the second half. Meanwhile here’s a WORLD EXCLUSIVE: It’s raining in Manchester. Storm Amy giving it the big one.
Half-time advertising break. Get on it (pts I and II)
HALF TIME: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
A fair scoreline on balance. Both sides on course to stay unbeaten this season. United on track to doing that rare thing: stopping Chelsea from winning after their having taken the lead.
45 min: There will be one additional minute to a first half that’s whizzed by.
44 min: Rytting Kaneryd drives at Sandberg down the right. She twists, turns and finally shoots. Straight at Tullis-Joyce. United have been more intricate in attack, Chelsea more direct. Both have come close in their own way to adding to their goal tally.
42 min: Rytting Kaneryd makes good down the right and crosses long. Baltimore prepares to head home, but Riviere heads clear just in time.
40 min: Cuthbert plays a long pass down the right in the hope of releasing Macario on goal. The flag goes up for offside, and Tullis-Joyce claims on the edge of her box anyway.
39 min: Sandberg, Park and Toone paint crisp triangles down the left flank. Eventually enough space opens up for Toone, who leans back and lifts a shot over the bar from the edge of the box. That would have been quite the goal.
38 min: United’s turn for a bit of sterile possession. Both teams perhaps recovering from their blistering start.
36 min: Chelsea pass and probe, United sitting back for now. Pretty much the first moment of downtime since the first whistle.
34 min: Beever-Jones romps down the left before cutting back for Kaptein, who leans back and, unmarked from eight yards, should score. But she flips her shot straight at Tullis-Joyce, who makes a great point-blank stop. Admittedly a save she should never have been allowed to make. Kaptein tries to ram home the rebound, but only succeeds in hoicking miles over the bar. United get away with one, because as fine a save as it was, the miss was egregious.
33 min: The wind is really whipping around the Progress With Unity Stadium. The corner flags are almost horizontal!
31 min: Toone, quarterbacking from deep on the left, tries to find Zigiotti Olme with a floated pass into the box. But she overcooks it, while her team-mate gives up on the run, and that’s easy pickings for Hampton.
30 min: Beever-Jones and Riviere contest a 50-50, and the former comes off worse. The Chelsea striker expects a free kick, holding her leg and rolling about a bit, but she’s not getting one. She’s not particularly happy about the absence of whistle, and she might have a point. Riviere looked a couple of nanoseconds late. But we play on.
28 min: Both teams are backing themselves in attack. Now it’s Park’s turn to drive aggressively at the Chelsea defence. She nearly busts her way through the thin blue line, but the gap closes just in time. There are more goals in this all right.
26 min: Chelsea have responded to that equaliser as though it was a personal affront. Which to champions it probably was. They win a corner United deals with. Then Carpenter storms down the right yet again, but overhits her cross. The visitors want their lead back.
24 min: A simple long ball down the inside-right pass nearly does for United. Macario spins Janssen and she’s all alone in the box! But the whistle goes for a foul on Janssen. A light stroke of the face, and a generous free kick. Macario doesn’t complain too much, to be fair, but United and Janssen have got away with one there.
22 min: That’s a really good response to falling behind from Manchester United, when you take those aforementioned Chelsea/Bompastor stats into consideration. And it can all be traced back to Janssen’s Beckenbauer-circa-1966-esque elegant slalom from her own half to the edge of the Chelsea box. No assist, but she’ll take United scoring from the next phase of attack. Wow.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (Sandberg 20)
Chelsea fail to clear their lines. On the edge of the D, Le Tissier cushions a header down for Sandberg, coming in from the left. Sandberg meets the ball flush, sending a dipping screamer across Hampton and into the bottom right. What a pearler!
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19 min: Janssen strides out from the back, down the inside left, drifting infield, all the way to the edge of the Chelsea box. She rolls across for Park, whose shot is blocked. That’s such a shame, because that would have been one of the all-time assists. But never mind from United’s point of view, because …
17 min: This is Sonia Bompastor’s 100th league game as a head coach. Of the 99 she’s previously contested, either with Chelsea or previously at Lyon, 90 have been won, and just two lost. Another measure of the size of job United have on their hands now.
15 min: Riviere looks for Toone down the right, and the pass is perfectly weighted … but also perfectly anticipated by Cuthbert, who comes across to get in front of Toone and use her strength to hold off the United player, ushering the ball out for a goal kick.
13 min: Suddenly United are under siege. They can’t get out of their final third. Baltimore swings in another dangerous cross from the left; Janssen is forced to turn behind for a corner. Baltimore crosses the pitch to take the set piece, but it’s cleared confidently by Tullis-Joyce.
11 min: That’s only the second goal United have conceded so far this season. It was a brilliant one, and it could be a costly one. Because here’s Chelsea’s record when opening the scoring in their last 26 WSL games: W24 D2 L0.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea (Kaptein 9)
… and here’s the opener. Carpenter crosses low from the right again. Macario, on the corner of the six-yard box, backheels for Kaptein, who calmly slots across Tullis-Joyce and into the bottom left. That’s a gloriously smooth move!
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8 min: Zigiotti Olme has the opportunity to release Riviere into acres down the right, but overhits the pass. Goal kick. Both teams look absurdly open.
6 min: Carpenter is sent scampering down the right by Walsh, who whips a cross to the near stick. Beever-Jones leans back and hoicks over from close range. It was surely easier to score. Somewhere in the multiverse, it’s already 2-2.
5 min: That’s a promising start for United, though: two one-on-one opportunities already, albeit neither a particularly easy one. But all good considering United have never beaten Chelsea in the WSL.
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4 min: Chelsea respond through Baltimore, who sashays down the left before curling a delicious ball in for Macario. For a second, it looks as though the goal is at her mercy, but she can’t get a shot away because Le Tissier stubbornly stays in the road to block. Then United counter the counter, Toone driving down the middle and slipping Park into the box down the right. Park tries to float a chip over Hampton from a tight angle, but it clears the bar. Looks like there may be goals in this!
2 min: United are on the front foot immediately. Terland strides purposefully down the inside-left channel. She’s got Rolfo in the middle, but is within her rights to take a pop herself. Her low drive, intended for the bottom left, is kicked away by Hampton.
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The players also intermingle in the centre circle, linking arms to mark the start of Black History Month … then Chelsea get the ball rolling.
The teams are out! United in red, Chelsea in blue. We’ll be off soon, but before kick-off there’s a moment of solemn silence in tribute to the victims of the terror attack on a Manchester synagogue. Perfectly observed.
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Chelsea’s Sonia Bompastor talks to the Beeb. “Coming into every game we are trying to bring players who can bring specific things to the team and performance … tonight is a tough game … we expect the finishers to come in … I have good quality on the bench.”
Manchester United boss Marc Skinner speaks to the BBC. “Fantastic to welcome Hannah [Blundell] back [after giving birth] … it’s been a long time but it’s a very welcome addition to the team … [as for dropping Melvine Malard in favour of Anna Sandberg] because of their bench you have to have two strategies, a start and an end game … in this one we’re looking in a certain way to exact that plan … it was harsh for [Malard] because she’s in excellent form … in reality it’s a bit of a gameplan that hopefully we can spring on Chelsea.”
Manchester United make one change to the starting XI from the one that began last Sunday’s 2-0 win at Liverpool … and it’s one with the visit of the all-conquering champions very much in mind. Anna Sandberg comes in for leading scorer Melvine Malard, who drops to the bench.
Chelsea rotate three players in/out of the XI that started the 4-0 win at West Ham United last weekend. Ellie Carpenter and Sandy Baltimore return as right-back and left-back respectively, with Catarina Macario coming into the midfield. Veerle Buurman, Oriane Jean-François and Alyssa Thompson drop to the bench.
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The teams
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Sandberg, Miyazawa, Park, Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Terland.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Blundell, George, Awujo, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Malard, Williams.
Chelsea: Hampton, Bjorn, Bright, Carpenter, Kaptein, Cuthbert, Walsh, Baltimore, Kaneryd, Macario, Beever-Jones.
Subs: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.
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Preamble
Just four games in, and already this feels like it could be a potentially decisive fixture. Look!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 2 | Man Utd Women | 4 | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | Man City Women | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Arsenal Women | 4 | 7 | 8 |
Manchester United can go top if they win tonight. It’s a big ask, even with home advantage, not least because Chelsea haven’t lost in the WSL since the tail end of the 2023-24 season – and they still went on to win the title – but also because Erin Cuthbert and Aggie Beever-Jones are currently in the sort of form that’s seen them pinging the ball into this top corner and that one. Yep, it’s a big ask.
Yet having said all that, United will still have confidence in their ability to end the 500-day-plus unbeaten WSL run of the best team in the land. Partly because their defence is formidable – they’ve only conceded one goal in their first four gamedays – and they’ve got spectacular goals in them too: step forward Hinata Miyazawa, and, without breaking stride, launch a howitzer. With Melvine Malard joint top of the early goalscoring charts alongside the aforementioned Beever-Jones, there’s enough in-form attacking talent on show for this to be a thriller, and if I’ve tempted the Football Gods into serving up a 0-0, I can only apologise in advance. Kick-off in Leigh, Greater Manchester is at 7.30pm BST. It’s on!
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