Ella Toone will be eligible for the next three club fixtures after Man Utd successfully won an appeal following her red card at Tottenham.
United won 2-1 in London to return to the top of the table, but had to survive a nervy finale after Toone was shown a straight red following a tangle with Spurs' Eveliina Summanen. But the England international will now be eligible for a run of games after the international break, following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal from her club to the FA.
With ten minutes left to play Toone appeared to hit out at Summanen during a scramble on the ground, leading to a straight red card. However, Summanen did appear to make the most of minimal contact and United manager Marc Skinner said after the game he felt that Toone had been the victim of "play acting."
Crucially it means Lioness Toone will now be available for the trip to Chelsea on March 12, a potential title decider, and a game which originally was set to be the third and final fixture she would be forced to miss. The United No.7 will now also be available for the Women's FA Cup tie at Durham and the clash with Leicester City when the WSL returns next month.
Skinner did say that United would appeal the decision following the game on Sunday, with Summanen's reaction leading to the red card according to the manager.
"We want our players to show passion, commitment and energy," Skinner said. "It was play acting in my opinion. Obviously, with Ella we'll look at that but I want to see that from her - I want to see passion in our players.
"It's something we'll work on internally because we have to be accountable. I will appeal that red card."
After a slow first half, the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium burst into life in the last half an hour. United appeared to have seized control through Leah Galton, but Beth England scored a sensational solo effort to draw Spurs level.
In a pulsating finish, Spurs went 2-1 behind only seconds later when Molly Bartrip turned a teasing cross into her own net. The came the added drama of Toone's clash with Summanen and subsequent red card. But United managed to hold out with ten players to move back to the top of the league and take advantage of Chelsea not playing.
Following the game on Sunday, Toone took to twitter to give her take on the incident.
"Pride myself on the passion and love I have when playing for this club. Hold my hands up for my reaction and I’ll learn from it. Proud of the team," she said.
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