Manchester United took charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, earning themselves three points and retaking the Women’s Super League top spot in their 2-1 win over ninth-place Spurs.
The second half saw all the action as Ella Toone was shown a straight red card for reacting to a leg-locking challenge from Eveliina Summanen with 10 minutes left on the clock holding onto their two-goals-to-one-lead.
Despite being in control of the majority of the game, it took 67 minutes for United to break stalemate when Ona Batlle delivered a cross from the right flank that was met by a composed Leah Galton who hit the back of the net from close range, her fifth goal of the campaign.
Beth England then charged to United’s box, cut in on her right foot and beat Mary Earps to slot the ball into the bottom right corner for the equaliser. The Reds replied 14 seconds later to retake the lead. Lucia Garcia put the ball in a dangerous spot right in front of the Spurs' goal causing Molly Bartrip to nudge the ball into her own net.
Galton told Sky Sports: "I think after last week in the nil-nil against Everton it was a bit frustrating, I felt like we had a lot of chances but we couldn't take them. So coming out today with the girls we just knew we needed to take the chances we created and we did that today.
"We had a lot of the ball, but we just couldn't find the final pass. And he just said to us [at half time] we just need to keep moving the ball and keep moving them around and tire them out. So I think we did that. And it's like quite positive [atmosphere in the team]."
If Toone's red card is uncontested, the number 10 will miss games in March, against Leicester, Chelsea and West Ham at Old Trafford. Regarding the impact of missing Toone for the next three WSL games after her teammate was shown the red card, Galton said: "[It will be] Huge, obviously I mean you see her quality she's great on the ball and she's very attacking but we have a strong squad this year and I think we'll be fine to manage that and make sure we attack different ways and use our ability from other players."
Today's win sees United go a point ahead of defending champions Chelsea in the WSL table heading into the international break whereas Tottenham stay ninth with nine points from 12 games so far this season.
Win a pair of tickets to the Premier League or Women's Super League match of your choosing! Enter below. CLICK HERE
