Manchester United 5 LCFC Women 1: What do you expect?
It was defeat as expected for Leicester City Women away at Manchester United on Sunday in a game where debutant Remy Siemsen got on the scoresheet and goalkeeper Janina Leitzig excelled yet again.
While a heavy loss was always likely, it still wasn’t a stellar Leicester performance. Missing right-back CJ Bott, arguably the Player of the Season so far, there were massive gaps in a defence that swapped one teenager without a Wikipedia page for another at half time.
Further forward, there was very little technical quality in midfield and Leicester’s ability to compete tailed off dramatically as the second half wore on.
But as BBC co-commentator Hope Powell continually bemoaned the visitors’ efforts, it was difficult not to wonder what anyone expects given the discrepancy between sides at the top and bottom of the WSL.
Benchmark
Leicester gave debuts to academy graduate right-back Jess Reavill and striker Remy Siemsen, while Josie Green made her first start since October after injury.
In five previous games against the WSL’s big four so far this season, our possession percentages had been 24, 32, 37, 30 and 26 (an average of 29.8), while our shots conceded had been 23, 10, 16, 23 and 32 (an average of 20.8).
Here, it was 30% possession and 33 shots conceded. Nearly half of them were on target, meaning another massive workload for Leitzig and she was again brilliant despite shipping five.
At least this is another game against the elite down, with just trips to Arsenal and Chelsea left in that category among the remaining fixtures.
Leit work
United’s Lionesses threatened Leicester’s goal with regularity in the opening ten minutes. Leitzig had already made a superb stop from a sliding Russo when she was forced into another from Ella Toone.
At right-back, the young Reavill was caught upfield on several occasions as part of a misshapen back four with Courtney Nevin on the other side tucking in to leave space on the left.
There was little threat on the break, with Hannah Cain on the left Leicester’s best option. When she beat Ona Batlle and managed to squeeze in a low cross, Aileen Whelan dummied the ball but United managed to clear.
In what is becoming a common theme, the concession of the first goal may not have been cruel on the team but it was certainly cruel on Leitzig. The German had just pulled off a tremendous double save when the ball fell to Alessia Russo who stroked it home from close range.
Don’t stop the press
The procession towards Leicester’s goal was stemmed briefly on the half hour mark as Cain worked some space and struck a swerving shot high and wide. Even an off-target effort from outside the box was a welcome reminder of a threat. From the resulting goal kick, the high press should have paid off with an opportunity but the ball didn’t quite fall to Siemsen, Whelan or Cain.
The high press has been a trademark of Willie Kirk’s time in charge so far. There’s definitely a sense that it’s not even expected to work in a game like this. Instead, it’s good practice and shows an important consistency of approach ready for a more winnable game.
This is a Leicester side that work extremely hard, both for the shirt and each other. When Ruby Mace made a mistake to provide a chance for United to counter, Josie Green covered brilliantly.
Unfortunately, United’s second arrived just two minutes later - both full-backs again absent as Russo headed in a high cross to the back post.
The high point
Leicester started the second half strongly and, as unlikely as it had looked for the entirety of the first half, soon found a way not just into a threatening position but past the newly-crowned world’s best goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Siemsen got the goal on her debut, latching onto a clever flick over the United backline by Green following a sharp piece of passing from Leicester.
It may not have been an equaliser in the most important sense but it was in another - Siemsen’s debut goal briefly drew Leicester level with Alessia Russo on 7 WSL goals this season.
Unfortunately, Russo went back in front after another five minutes when she completed her hat-trick.
The getaway
The third goal was the killer but United could have gone on to rack up double figures as Leicester tired. Leitzig continued to impress amid the maelstrom, the highlight a double save halfway through the half.
By that time it was 4-1, Leah Galton punishing a horrendous defensive line from a Russo flick. Substitute Lucia Garcia completed the scoring six minutes from time.
Attention now turns to upcoming games in which Leicester can be far more competitive. A home game against Everton is next up, followed by trips to Tottenham and Aston Villa. The odd point from those three would be welcome ahead of the real crunch clash at home to Reading at the start of April.
