Manchester United Women pulled off a late win to defeat a difficult Leicester City side 1-0.

The Red Devils controlled most of the match but did not find a breakthrough until the 83rd minute when Ella Toone came off the bench to score a world-class winner. As her manager, Marc Skinner, commented at the end of the match, “it was a goal worthy of winning any game”.

Speaking in a post-match interview, Toone could hardly contain her delight after scoring her ninth WSL goal of the season. As relayed by the club’s official website, the midfielder claimed, “yeah, it meant a lot. The girls dug deep and I knew my job was to come on and to change the game and to try and get the girls a goal and that’s what I did”.

When discussing the goal she humbly declared it “was a decent finish” before joking off-camera that “Mary (Earps) wouldn’t have saved it either”.

ELLA TOONE WITH THE ROCKET

An incredible strike from distance! WOW! #BarclaysWSL @ManUtdWomen @ellatoone99 pic.twitter.com/6YmrlKJujM

— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) April 28, 2024

The 24 year old was also asked if she knew it was in from the moment she hit it. She replied, “yeah, sometimes when you strike a ball and you know when you’ve hit it clean, you know it’s going in. To be fair, when I’d seen the keeper got dead close to it and then, yeah when it hit the back of the net, luckily, I was buzzing with it.”

Skinner had asked before the game that his side showed ruthlessness in both boxes and while this was lacking in the attacking department, the defence stayed solid and kept a vital clean sheet against a dangerous Leicester counter-attack.

Full back Hannah Blundell, spoke on the team’s togetherness and the importance of having substitutes that can make a difference in games.

Commenting on Toone’s strike she said, “incredible, I mean, to be fair the subs that came on were fantastic. Tooney’s goal, I’m honestly speechless. Incredible from her but that’s Tooney for you. She can produce those moments and thankfully she did today and got us the win.”

Elaborating further on the side’s depth she claimed, “the good thing about this team as well is that when players aren’t starting, they know they can come on and make a difference. They’ve got a positive mentality.”

Blundell went on to praise the defence for keeping a clean sheet in the face of a strong Leicester onslaught in the final ten minutes of play.

“When you keep a team like Leicester in it, they’re always going to have chances. Thankfully we have a keeper like Mary in goal and the back four. They were fantastic today and I think we have been all season.”

“You have got to stay switched on through the 113 minutes we had today and if you aren’t getting the goals, then you need to keep a clean sheet at the back.”

United’s women have an exciting final three games of the season remaining, where they take on Liverpool next Sunday and Chelsea in three weeks time. Sandwiched in between is also the small matter of the FA Cup final against Tottenham, where they will hope to go one better than last season and lift the famous trophy at Wembley.

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Manchester United women’s Irish centre back, Aoife Mannion, has lavished praise on goalkeeper Mary Earps.

The United shot-stopper has had a meteoric rise over the last few seasons with her standing across world football skyrocketing.

Earps was a crucial part of England’s Euros win in 2022 and was also magnificent in her national team’s run to the final of the World Cup, saving a penalty in the final.

She has also been crowned the best keeper in world football for two consecutive years and won the BBC sports personality of the year award.

The 31 year old has carried her fine form into club football, as she put in an outstanding performance for the Red Devils when she faced a barrage of shots in the club’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in the recent FA Cup semi-final.

Speaking to talkSport, her teammate Mannion has claimed, “What Mary is like on the pitch is exactly what she’s like in training.”

The defender was also full of praise for the attitude she brings to matchdays.

“She’s full throttle, incredibly authentic and passionate as a character and very inspiring to be around on the pitch.”

The defender once again praised Earps’ acts of heroism on the pitch and spoke of one particular save she made in the vital semi-final victory over Chelsea a couple of weeks ago.

“I was saying to her in the gym actually that there was one particular save that she made [vs Chelsea] where it almost looked like she had to hyper extend or dislocate her shoulder to stop the ball from going in the net and I’m surprised there’s not been any videos or memes [because] basically when she did that, I just put my hands to my face and gasped.

“For that moment, I was like a fan watching it and it’s very rare in football in a game as a player where you have a sense of something that’s so incredible.”

Referencing how crucial Earps is for the team she commented, “She’s an incredible goalkeeper and sometimes, little moments like that in games can remind everyone just how lucky we are to have her and how lucky I am personally to play alongside her.”

“Some of those saves were just enormous and can’t be understated how incredible and skilful they are. I’m really pleased she was in the net for us because it could have been a very different outcome if she wasn’t.”

United’s women aim to finish the season strongly as they take on Leicester City on Sunday and still have two mouth-watering fixtures against Liverpool and Chelsea in the Women’s Super League.

However, Earps will be no doubt be champing at the bit to help United win their first piece of silverware when they take on Tottenham in the FA Cup final on the 12th of May.

There is little doubt that the England international will once again be of vital importance if United go on to win the trophy.

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Manchester United Women’s manager, Marc Skinner, called on his team to show greater ruthlessness in front of goal than they have currently been showing as of late.

After the glory of making it into the FA Cup final, holding on to beat Chelsea, the Red Devils followed up the result with a disappointing 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in their next league fixture.

United will take on Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, aiming to fend off Liverpool to keep their fourth place in the Women’s Super League standings.

Skinner opened up his pre-match press conference by lavishing praise on new technical director Jason Wilcox and spoke of his excitement at working closely with the former Blackburn winger.

When asked his views on Wilcox potentially introducing an overarching style that both the men’s and women’s team would follow he stated, “Yeah, I think any team has an identity and I think you can talk about it. Jason’s had fantastic success at his previous clubs, including style of play and from our perspective, we welcome anyone who has fantastic input. It can only be a positive thing.”

“As a Manchester United team, an attacking style of play is really important to our fans”.

The coach was then asked about how he would continue to blood youngsters into his first-team squad after the success of the men’s side, where Ethan Wheatley became the 250th academy graduate to make a debut for the first team.

He spoke of the importance of training but also believed the success of the youth teams this season will only benefit their development.

“You can’t replicate the pressure in a game (in training). The success of the under-21s and 16s gives them exposure to pressure early.

“Pre-season will be key. We’ll see a lot of them and make a plan for each individual”.

Skinner went on to discuss this weekend’s opponent and spoke in glowing terms of the Foxes’ performance level in this campaign.

“Maybe their results have not been what they wanted but their performances have been absolutely fine. Every time I watch them, they are creating chances. Leicester are a very good team in my opinion. We look forward to playing them.”

However, the United coach believes that winning the match will be down to one factor and that is putting away their chances.

“We need to dictate but I want us to be more ruthless in both boxes. We have to get back to that. We’ve created against Tottenham, lots and lots of chances to win the game. We have to show our ruthless side.”

The 41-year-old was then asked to provide some team news and he commented that the side will largely be unchanged but Jayde Riviere was “back training individually” and that she will hopefully make a return next week.

Skinner was then asked to share his thoughts on defender Maya Le Tissier signing a new deal and he was understandably delighted.

“I think she’s going to be a cultural architect for what we want to build at Manchester United. That’s the reason she has signed again.”

Speaking on her performance against Spurs, where she scored a last-minute equaliser, he claimed, “I really enjoyed her performance barring a couple of moments. I think she really grew into the game. She led with her body language and voice. I want her to help me build this winning team that we want to see at Manchester United.”

Finally, the former Birmingham City coach commented on how his team must concentrate on winning every game, despite their chances of qualifying for the top three having already been extinguished.

“We have to focus on the here and now. There’s a great chance for us because I want my players to see every opportunity not just the one coming down the line. That shows our mentality, we want to win every game.”

With crucial ties against Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea in the league and a showpiece FA Cup final versus Tottenham on the 12th May, there is still much to look forward to this season for United’s Women.

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