Manchester United made the most of playing in front of a record Old Trafford crowd by hammering Aston Villa in the Women's Super League.
Katie Zelem broke the stalemate early on before Leah Galton, Alessia Russo, Ona Batlle and Rachel Williams' finishes secured United ’s three points and continued their unbeaten run at the famous old stadium supported by 30,000 fans.
Marc Skinner’s side played with palpable energy at the Theatre of Dreams, and their high press was quickly rewarded when captain Zelem followed up a loose ball from Alessia Russo’s header in the 13th minute.
Galton doubled their lead by the half-hour mark when Ella Toone slotted the ball into her path, a clinical finish to find the bottom corner from a first-touch shot. With her second assist, Toone provided the cross for Russo’s clinical finish five minutes into the second half for a 3-0 lead.
Batlle’s thunderous strike kissed the crossbar and the upright before bouncing into the back of the net in the 76th minute, but there was still time for substitute Williams to complete the 5-0 rout in the dying seconds.
It could’ve been even more impressive but for a premature whistle from the referee, who blew up as Galton was brought down, denying her a goal who rose quickly to slip the ball into the net.
Toone was the workhorse of the Reds, working box-to-box and side-to-side with fancy footwork everywhere in between. She rose to the occasion in front of the record crowd as United took the game to Villa and refused to give them an inch.
United played with confidence and higher quality throughout, determined to be the first to the ball and control the tempo of the game which kept the visitor's main goal threat, Rachel Daly quiet. Villa struggled to get going from the off, their goal was disallowed for an offside call in the first 45 minutes, yet until the hour mark to find momentum and challenge Mary Earps once more.
Next, Manchester United host Everton in their Conti Cup clash on Wednesday before heading to the Etihad for the anticipated derby against City on December 11th.
