Manchester United Women sunk to their first defeat in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. They lost 5-2 to Wolfsburg, the defensive breakdowns hitting hard in the opening minute and continuing through the full match. This loss only continues the team’s struggle in an abysmal week for the team. They had just conceded four goals in their previous game against Manchester City.
The second half of the match would prove to be a turning point with a costly mistake by Canadian players. When she tried a blind back pass to her teammate, she accidentally invited Vivien Endemann to pick her pocket. Endemann took full advantage of the cutoff play’s blunder on Riviere’s error. She rounded the goalkeeper and finished off an even more disappointing evening for the WSL team. This moment was only one of three moments of catastrophic defending that haunted Manchester United for the 90 minutes.
A Series of Defensive Errors
Riviere’s mistake was symptomatic of a larger issue within the team’s defensive structure. Outside of the instance of the back pass, Manchester United’s defense was clearly troubled by Wolfsburg’s direct approach. The team gave up five big goals this go-around. This was a far cry from their previous outing, when they conceded only four goals under the oncetrack against Manchester City.
Even with six shots on target, Manchester United had an uphill battle trying to maintain their opposition. Here’s what manager Skinner had to say about the shots to goals ratio in his post-match interview with MUTV.
“The manager and experience in me looks at the point that they’ve had six shots on target and scored five.” – Skinner
Skinner looking back at the match’s events pointed out how defensive mistakes were the ultimate difference maker. The head coach said the squad had a good record in this tournament. They were up against an opponent that simply made them pay for their mistakes.
Goals from Both Sides
Manchester United’s defense certainly collapsed, they did put two goals on the board themselves. Melvine Malard netted one back for United, but it did little to shift the tide of the one-sided match.
Wolfsburg’s Beerensteyn was next to add her name to the score sheet, firing into goal through the legs of Maya Le Tissier. This aim highlighted the problems with United’s back three even more, as once again, they failed to keep their shape when faced with a press.
“It’s on us as a collective. We’ll learn from it, it will help our young team grow. We’ve been excellent this competition so far. We’ve just played a team tonight that’s punished us.” – Skinner
Learning from Mistakes
Now as that team continues to watch the tape on the match, Skinner has made it a priority to learn from those mistakes. True, Wolfsburg were direct, but for too long in this game, Manchester United did not dictate enough.
“They’ve done nothing special, they’re a direct team and so we have to be better at controlling the game. There are mistakes we’ve made tonight that we have to put right and make sure we don’t do again.” – Skinner
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