The memory of Mayra Ramírez bulldozing her way through the Old Trafford penalty area to power Chelsea to a symbolic 6-0 victory that clinched last season’s title may still be fresh in the minds of many Manchester United supporters. Just six days after United had won their first major trophy, proudly lifting the Women’s FA Cup at Wembley, they were brought crashing back to Earth with a humbling defeat that exposed some of their defensive frailties and highlighted the gap between them and the champions, as they finished fifth and Chelsea won a fifth title in a row.
As the teams prepare to meet again on Sunday, United are once more in fifth place and Chelsea are at the top, but this season, defense has been Marc Skinner’s team’s strength. They have conceded only two goals in all competitions after nine games and kept seven clean sheets. Their unbeaten start is under threat like never before, though, as they travel to face a side who have a perfect record since Sonia Bompastor took charge in the summer.
Skinner expects his team to use May’s chastening defeat as extra motivation, hinting that their pride was hurt that day. “That’s a fuel and motivation, that game,” he said. “They had absolutely everything to fight for on that last game of the season to win the title, and maybe we dipped below our hunger levels in that game. We’d just won the FA Cup and we were finishing where we were going to finish in the league, and it’s a big wake-up call for us.
“The reality is, when we walked off that field, nobody felt good. You can have a choice, can’t you? You can [have] fear from it, or you can do something about it. I think these players have now learnt from that. It’s not about blame, it’s about growth. We have to learn and grow from that game.
“We’ve got to be concentrated, be physically present, mentally present for every one of these minutes. And if we can do that to the best of our ability then we can win the game.” United have never beaten Chelsea in the Women’s Super League, although they did defeat them in the FA Cup in April. When Skinner was asked whether Sunday’s game was a must-win for his side’s title aspirations, he said he believed there was no harder opponent in Europe: “To say it’s a must-win against a team who have not lost a game and who have played the way they have, I think it’s just a bit overreaching. It’s a ‘want to win’, for sure. But this is the hardest task in probably Europe right now. We know what we’re going to face. We’re going to go into it very positively. There’s confidence. We’re going to give absolutely everything.
“It’s winning your duels. It’s the real foundations of the game, rather than these tactical strategies. Sometimes you have to go: ‘How do we maximise those one-to-ones?’ And if we can do that then we stand a chance in the game of taking the points.”
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