From Leigh Sports Village – Manchester United made it four WSL wins in row with a 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, inching closer to securing a first ever top three finish and continuing to put pressure on their title rivals as the season nears its conclusion.
Tottenham, meanwhile, must keep looking nervously over their shoulder near the bottom.
Although Spurs had Tinja-Riikka Korpela to thank for keeping them in the game, United took a comfortable lead into half-time thanks to goals from Leah Galton and Alessia Russo, while Nikita Parris made certain of the victory early in the second.
It was almost a lightning start from the hosts when Ona Batlle surged forward down the right and sent a low cross into the six-yard. But Spurs goalkeeper Korpela managed to divert Galton’s close-range finish out for a corner.
That was immediately followed by a period of sustained pressure from Tottenham. Mary Earps gratefully clutched a driven Molly Bartrip shot from 30 yards, while Maya Le Tissier somehow got back to deny Bethany England a certain goal after taking the ball round Earps soon after.
End to end and being played at 100mph, Korpela made a smart parry from Russo and later a point-blank save from Nikita Parris – she wasn’t to know in that moment the latter was offside. The Finn also plucked a dangerous chipped cross from Hannah Blundell out of the air, while Galton hit the bar with a header from a corner – again, a whistle ensured it wouldn’t have counted.
United had their lead just over half an hour in, but it ended up being the result of a mistake rather than a well-crafted move. Former LSV favourite Amy Turner was guilty of a mis-placed back-pass that Galton ran onto and finished with composure beyond Korpela.
Barely any time had passed before it was 2-0. Korpela was again in action to spectacularly parry behind from Vilde Boe Risa’s power drive. But Spurs couldn’t deal with the resultant corner and Russo was on hand inside the box to smash a volley into the net.
Even with United seemingly cruising, Spurs almost got one back out of nowhere before half-time when Jessica Naz countered down the left and Celin Bizet Ildhusoy headed her cross onto the post.
The start to the second half was not as frenetic, with United in control of things, but it still wasn’t long before Parris had made it 3-0. Korpela had already saved from Russo just before and just after the goal, but she stood no chance when the defenders in front of her made a mess of…
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