“Really, really pivotal”: Skinner pinpoints key player who was the catalyst for United Women in their win vs Villa

Manchester United Women continued their strong start to the year with a third consecutive win. United Women overcame a tough Aston Villa side with a 4-1 win, scoring three rapid second-half goals. Speaking to Sky Sports (via the club’s website) after the game, manager Marc Skinner was understandably happy with his side’s response. Half-time adjustments He was not overly impressed with his team’s first 45 minutes, though, claiming, “I didn’t think we won the first half. We were in a lull.” He continued, “we had words with ourselves at half-time as a collective and we decided that we needed to do a lot better in the second half. When you leave Villa in the game, they can be dangerous, but we controlled the second half much better and could have been six [goals] in the end.” Elaborating further on what changed in the second-half performance, he stated, “We spoke about the simplicity of moving from one side to the other side, rather than getting trapped in little pockets, and then that stretched [Villa] out and we’re able to use their spaces. We did that effectively second half.” He also added that the team took too long on the ball and did not use the wide spaces enough to attack the Villa goal. Skinner finished his answer by stating, “the reset point is half-time where you go, ‘right, this is clarity’. And that was a difference. We used [the ball] just a little bit higher up, switched the play and then invaded a little bit with brains rather than just legs. We just controlled the spaces a lot better and moved it all over the field.” Lisa Naalsund Despite goals from Julia Olme, Elisabeth Terland, Jess Park and Hanna Lundkvist, Skinner had praise for another United star. He claimed, “I’ve got to say, Lisa Naalsund came on and made a massive difference as well. She opened up spaces for Jess to drift in, she was really, really pivotal in what I thought was a dominant second half.” Praise for new arrivals The head coach was also delighted with the impact new signings Lundkvist, Lea Schuller and Ellen Wangerheim have had on his side. Commenting on the Swede Lundkvist’s first goal for the club, he said, “Hanna’s, she’s class. She’s very classy. With the ball, without the ball, she knows what she’s doing, very quiet, but knows her role and gets on with it. The goal is a great finish from that angle.” He also claimed to be very happy with Schuller and Wangerheim, but said they need more time as they are effectively in pre-season, having not played in a while. United will next be in action on Sunday when they host arch rivals Liverpool at the Progress with Unity Stadium. Lisa Naalsund’s stats vs Aston Villa StatValue Goals0 Assists0 Key passes1 Crosses (accurate)1 (1) Accurate passes5/6 (83%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)3/4 (75%) Passes in own half (acc.)2/2 (100%) Long balls (accurate)1/2 (50%) Total shots1 Shots on target1 Shots blocked0 Big chances missed1 Touches12 Unsuccessful touches2 Dribbles (successful)0 (0) Possession lost3 Total carrying distance43.9 m Carries5 Progressive carries2 Total progression26.7 m Progressive carrying distance27.4 m Longest progressive carry13.3 m Def. contributions1 Tackles (won)1 (1) Interceptions0 Clearances0 Blocked shots0 Recoveries1 Ground duels (won)1 (1) Aerial duels (won)1 (1) Dribbled past0 Source: Sofascore The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.