Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City: Lucia Garcia’s dramatic late winner takes WSL title race to final day

Manchester United ensured the WSL title race will continue until the final day of the season with a 2-1 derby win over 10-player Manchester City.

With leaders Chelsea having beaten Arsenal 2-0 in the day’s early kick-off, if United had dropped points, Emma Hayes’ Blues would have been crowned champions without kicking a ball.

Hayley Ladd’s stunner inside the first two minutes gave the hosts the lead and, between Chloe Kelly hitting the crossbar on two occasions, City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck was sent off for a reckless challenge on Nikita Parris.

The visitors did work their way back into the game, when Filippa Angeldahl’s cross dropped over the line after being misjudged by Mary Earps, but Lucia Garcia delighted a packed Leigh Sports Village with a dramatic winner in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

United stay second, two points behind Chelsea ahead of next Saturday’s final day, knowing that a win against Liverpool and a slip-up by the Blues – either a defeat at Reading or a draw with a six-goal swing – would see them lift the title instead.

The result also means fourth-placed City are unlikely to make next season’s Champions League. They need to win their final game against Everton, hope Arsenal lose at home to Villa, and achieve an 11-goal swing.

How Man Utd kept the title race alive

United made a relentless start. Marc Skinner’s side knew their brief and immediately set about executing it.

Ex-City forward Parris led a menacing early break and stayed on her feet admirably after being knocked off balance. The ball then found its way over to Ladd, who rolled the ball in front of herself and arrowed an unstoppable effort into the top right corner with Roebuck rooted to the spot.

But the relentless start lasted all of 15 minutes, which allowed City to come forward for the first time. Bunny Shaw dragged the ball away from a challenge and saw a fierce shot blocked, but the visitors kept the ball alive and Chloe Kelly rattled the underside of the crossbar after connecting with a loose ball.

Just before the break, the complexion of the derby changed altogether. Parris was released in behind the City defence and, after Roebuck raced from the area to clean her out, she was shown a red card. Leila Ouahabi was sacrificed, with 18-year-old Khiara Keating on to replace her.

Surprisingly, United did not fly out of the traps after the break. Instead, within five minutes of the restart, Alex Greenwood whipped in a teasing free-kick that Kelly met, sending a powerful header onto the crossbar. They were denied a penalty, too, when Ladd’s foul on Shaw went unpunished.

With just over 20 minutes to play, City levelled. Angeldahl floated in a cross from the right, which caught Earps out, with the ball flying over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net via the left-hand post. They might have won it in the closing minutes of the 90, too, had Maya Le Tissier’s incredible slide tackle not thwarted Shaw.

United were not done, though. Hannah Blundell clipped a cross to the back post, which was kept alive by Vilde Boe Risa, with Garcia keeping a cool head to arrive in the six-yard box and fire the winner past Keating.

Player of the match – Ona Batlle

What’s next?

Manchester United head to Liverpool on the final day of the Women’s Super League season on Saturday May 27, while Manchester City finish their campaign at home to Everton. Both matches kick off at 2.30pm.