19 November 2023 , 19:54
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Manchester United boss Marc Skinner conceded his side 'got what we deserved' in the 3-1 loss to Manchester City at Old Trafford.
United were meant to relish the occasion of a club record crowd of over 43,000 fans against the backdrop of the Theatre of Dreams. Instead, a purposeful and zealous start from Manchester City saw United struggle to handle the pressure and goals from Jill Roord, Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw ended United's unbeaten start to the WSL season.
The sending off of City defender Laia Alexaindri for a second yellow card offence offered something in the way of a lifeline for United with 20 minutes remaining. But despite 11 minutes of injury time, United offered little in the way of a response to break down a resilient City defence.
The loss sees City jump United to third in the league table, while leaving Skinner's side seven points adrift of league leaders Chelsea. And Skinner was unapologetic in his post-match assessment of the defeat.
""We got what we deserved," the 40-year-old said. "I don't think we were good enough, as a collective, all of us weren't good enough. We win together, and we lose together."
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He added: "There were times where we allowed the occasion to get to us a little bit, didn't control the moments, allowed them to put us under pressure which then forced us to make mistakes. Credit to City, the goals we conceded are not good enough for our standard.
"It is one of those tonight where we have not done what we needed to do and we got what we deserved."
Despite hardly being in the game, United opened the scoring when captain Katie Zelem converted from the spot after Alex Greenwood handled Melvine Malard's shot in the area.
Manchester United manager Marc Skinner gives instructions to Geyse (Photo by Charlotte Tattersall - MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)And United looked guaranteed to double their advantage as forward Geyse leapt into a blistering counter attack, only for the Brazilian to woefully mistime her pass to Nikita Parris as City defender Alanna Kennedy made a crucial intervention.
Geyse thought she made immediate amends as she scooped the ball into the far side netting from a tight angle, but the goal was disallowed as the ball was ruled out of play before Geyse's shot.
The ruling buoyed the visitors, who responded by swiftly drawing proceedings level after Chloe Kelly beat Lisa Naalsund down the left flank and found Jill Roord making a late run in the box.
And 18 seconds after Roord's equaliser, United found themselves on the wrong side of the score line as Yui Hasegawa pounced on a dithering Zelem in her own half. Lauren Hemp culminated the move with a sublime strike off the underside of the crossbar.
City's third goal arrived shortly into the second half as miscommunication between Maya Le Tissier and Mary Earps led to Shaw scribbling her name on the scoresheet.
"There will be a lot of learning from that result tonight," Skinner said. "This group wants to do better and expects to do better. And I fully believe, as do they, that we can bounce back. We've got to learn, games come thick and fast in the WSL and you have to be ready.
"When this group face a setback they bounce back and they are aggressive with that. I look forward to seeing us get back to work this week and be very ready for the next step."
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