Manchester United women news with a roundup of the best action from the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium
Manchester United gave up their FA Cup hold as they were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea in the women’s final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Sandy Baltimore (two) and Catarina Macario added gloss to a game in which United fought hard but never really looked like winning.
Despite a strong start at Wembley, United were unable to capitalise and slowly dropped towards the edge of their own box. Celin Bizet fell foul to a moment of lacking concentration as she brought down Erin Cuthbert, leading to Baltimore’s penalty on the brink of half-time.
Macario headed in a second from the bench late on before Baltimore took advantage of United’s desperate attempts to force a comeback, firing in another.
United have made it profoundly clear under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos that the women’s team just is not the priority. Many have used this to justify Marc Skinner’s performance as head coach when things have been shaky.
Whilst Chelsea have a bench full of international stars and an academy starting to really bare fruit – even with injuries costing them some of their best players – Skinner has had his hands tied. The head coach still delivered an FA Cup final and a third-place Women’s Super League finish, pipping Manchester City at the end.
Here, the Manchester Evening News brings you player ratings from Wembley Stadium as well as analysis of some of the key moments.
Ratings:
Phallon Tullis-Joyce – Made some important stops to deny Beever-Jones and Ramirez. One spectacular one (perhaps for the cameras) caught the eye. Couldn’t do anything about the goals. 6
Maya Le Tissier – Extremely well organised and marshalled a drilled defensive unit. Tried to move the line up the field but got stuck defending for a lot of the game. 6
Aofie Mannion – Had a tough task to deal with Baltimore and Niamh Charles but held her own. Failed to create much with Bizet. 4
Dominique Janssen – Came close to scoring with a good effort from the edge of the box. Put in a strong shift to deny Chelsea. 5
Millie Turner – Off at half-time without a massively eventful first 45. She did struggle with the pace of Aggie Beever-Jones and Mayra Ramirez at times. 5
Gabby George – Beaten by Aggie Beever-Jones several times and had little to do on the ball with most of the attacking play coming from the right. Almost scored an own goal. Made up for that with a last ditch tackle to stop a shot. 4
Hinata Miyazawa – Looked good when United could find her in the right spaces but that was an all-too rare occurrence. 5
Grace Clinton – Cut an angry figure as she tried to lead United forward without much success. Put herself about but had to keep an eye on Lucy Bronze rather than causing her problems going the other way. 4
Celin Bizet – Worked hard on the right and linked well with Miyazawa. Most of United’s attacks came on her side but made a poor decision to stick her boot out in the box when conceding the penalty. 5
Leah Galton – Produced a brilliant tackle to stop Mayra Ramirez from shooting at the end of the first half, which sums up how little she was able to get forward. 5
Elisabeth Terland – Increasingly frustrated as she tried to deal with Millie Bright and the Chelsea trio of centre-backs. Had very little service. Headed a cross on target but couldn’t add the power. Almost nicked one ahead of Hanah Hampton in a brief sight of goal. 5
Substitutes:
Ella Toone (On for Turner, 45′) – Got one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon but otherwise did nothing. 5
Melvine Malard (On for Mannion, 69′) – Not on for long enough for a rating. N/A
Anna Sandberg (On for George, 74′) – Same as above. N/A
Rachel Williams (On fo Bizet , 80′) – And again. N/A
Lisa Naalsund (On for Miyazawa, ’80’) – And again, again. N/A
Skinner success
After finishing 16 points behind Chelsea in the WSL, United had a big gap to bride up against Chelsea. They had already improved on coming fifth place in 2023/24 under Skinner, getting six points more. They are still a way off the 2022/23 side which pushed Chelsea all the way.
With much smaller investment than their opponents, how does this result shape the narrative of United’s season? Well, the WSL end is maybe a slight disappointment given the final day defeat to Arsenal saw second place slip away. A run of no wins in the final four games cannot be ignored, although perhaps reaching the FA Cup final is justification enough for that.
Having been beaten by Chelsea in the official title clincher, United were out for revenge but certainly went into this game as an underdog. They were edged out at the Leigh Sports Village at the end of last month by a Lucy Bronze header.
This time things were less tight. United match Chelsea early and penned them in but without ever really worrying Hannah Hampton too much. They huffed and puffed but simply found themselves moved about too much by better attackers.
United also lost 8-0 at home (Old Trafford this time) on the final day of last season as Chelsea lifted their fifth WSL title in a row. That was embarrassing and the record of 13 defeats at the hands of Emma Hayes/Bompastor in 15 doesn’t make the picture any prettier.
Fundamentally, United are better than the teams below them who are less established and carry a much smaller name. They struggle to match the giants above them who take this game seriously.
The FA Cup final only went to show that as they competed without ever looking that likely to cause a shock. That feels about right for the season but is it enough with this group of players and for Skinner? The jury is still out.
Regrouping
Despite United’s strong start, Chelsea’s quality started to shine through as Skinner saw his team forced back towards the edge of their own box. Although they held firm, the lack of progression from their bunkered down position started to frustrate.
After a stoppage in place for an injury to Bizet, a group of United players made their way over to the touchline for some tactical instructions. It was an animated conversation, though.
Grace Clinton steamed over and started to point her finger. Skinner did manage to calm her down as United took on board the details coming from their coach.
Eventually some more players came over to join the huddle and mid-half team talk. It became a constructive moment in the end but United’s gradual fade started to show as their attackers grew tired of chasing shadows and not getting the ball.
Clinton was always up against it with Erin Cuthbert and Keira Walsh as opponents but her lack of involvement clearly started to grate.
2025-05-18 14:49:00
