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Saturday 17 May 2025 22:00
With 20 minutes to go at Old Trafford, in the fourth Manchester derby of the season, United Women’s Champions League hopes hung by a thread.
Down to 10 against a Manchester City side wolfishly hunting down our third-place position – the last of the Women’s Super League’s European slots – with the game locked at two goals apiece, it was sink-or-swim stuff.
Melvine Malard had levelled for the Reds minutes earlier, but a second yellow card for Aoife Mannion, just seconds after that goal, instantly shifted the contest into another new phase: defence versus attack. Hunters against the hunted.
Some might describe what followed as ‘desperate defending’. But this United Women team simply don’t do desperate defending – these girls would probably prefer the word ‘delectable’.
Because what followed, during the remaining 20-plus-five minutes, was the Reds’ season in miniature: an impassioned burst of collective resilience, driven by what captain Maya Le Tissier later described as a sheer “love” for the art of defending.
It ended with the clinching of a season-long goal: qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League next term. And there could be more to come still, with a third FA Cup final in as many years looming before the end of May.
Right now, we feel like celebrating the entirety of this loveable squad. But, seeing as our TeamViewer Trending series leads on individuals, it feels appropriate to put forward the skipper – the young, driving force behind this most collective of football teams…
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STAND-OUT MOMENT
Like the team she leads, arguably Maya’s greatest characteristic is her selflessness. Famously, she played every minute of last season, and she’s on course to do the same again this term. For much of the season, the United Women back four she stewards was the WSL’s leading defence, conceding just nine goals in the first 19 matches.
It’s all about collaboration, but don’t get suckered into thinking that this is just about the back four or back five – this outfit truly defends with 11, from Elisabeth Terland up front, through Grace Clinton, Leah Galton and Ella Toone behind and, of course, the midfielders like Dominique Janssen and Hinata Miyazawa that typically shield the back four.
But Maya – and, of course, her trusty partner Millie Turner – are very much the directors of the combined effort, and in that derby you saw Maya’s authority clearly in a stand-out moment during the first half, when City launched a very handy ball over United’s back line to set Kerolin – the Blues’ most dangerous player on the day – racing in on Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s goal. However, Le Tissier made up the lost ground with seeming effortlessness, before shrugging off the Brazilian forward like a light coating of dust, to the delight of the bumper 31,465 crowd at Old Trafford.
PERFORMANCE INSIGHT
Last-ditch blocks and goal-line clearances are rare opportunities for defenders to glean a little bit of the limelight from attackers, but as all savvy football fans know, the best defenders are those who pre-empt danger; that halt threatening moves before they have the chance to materialise into something lethal. This year, bolstered by the calmness of Tullis-Joyce in goal, Le Tissier and Turner’s back four has done that superbly, with full-backs Jayde Riviere and Gabby George equally excellent. And, just like this team defend as one, they attack together too: Le Tissier, Turner and co are composed and astute with the ball, not just without it.
The move for our equaliser against the Blues was a good example: it was started by Maya’s expert long pass from deep in United’s half. Her ball found the head of Melvine Malard, who nodded it out wide to Aoife Mannion. From there, Mannion scooped the ball up to Malard’s strike partner Elisabeth Terland, who nudged it on to send the French forward in behind City’s back line, from where she precisely slid the ball home. But it was the United captain who started it all: her decision to go long demonstrating her very evident in-game intelligence and maturity, at the age of just 23.
MAYA SAID
“We love defending! Blocks going on the line, Phallon in goal, everyone defending – midfielders, strikers, Leah doing all the one-v-ones on the left side. It’s what had to be done for the team and, no matter what was needed, we were going to do that today. We’ve come out with what we needed. When you play football at a high level, and the pressure is on, you never really take a minute to see where the team has come from, from the start of the season all the way until now. But this is what we wanted to do. It’s a special team.”
THE BOSS SAID
“I see the absolute value in Maya and what she gives to our team. She is a fantastic captain and a fantastic person. I can only see growth in that. Me and her have a relationship where we can challenge each other. Every day she has got to get better, even though she is fantastic… I want this player, especially my captain, to be one of the world’s best. She is proving the consistency but there is much more to come. I am really proud of Maya and the growth this season.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Maya is one of three United Women players to be named in the Barclays WSL Team of the Season for 2024/25, alongside team-mates Grace Clinton and Phallon Tullis-Joyce.
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Saturday 17 May 2025 22:00
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