Manchester United Women booked their place in the third round of Champions League qualifying in Stockholm.
The Red Devils overcame Swedish side Hammarby 1-0 in a tight match.
First half
Marc Skinner’s side began well and had the first real chance of the game.
Good work on the left by Ella Toone resulted in a ball being played into Elisabeth Terland, but she fired straight at the keeper.
United pushed forward and on 18 minutes, Anna Sandberg beat her opponent and fired a long range effort over the crossbar.
Despite the positive start, it was the Swedish side who had the best chance to open the scoring in the first 45 minutes.
Smilla Holmberg’s corner was flicked on by Julie Blakstad and the ball landed at the feet of Sofia Reidy. Fortunately for United, her effort hit the underside of the crossbar from close range.
In a tense affair, the game was evenly poised at 0-0 when the half-time whistle blew.
Second half
Marc Skinner’s side once again started the better of the two teams and did not take too long to register their first chance of the half.
Celin Bizet forced the Hammarby goalkeeper into a good save after winning possession high up the pitch.
From the resulting rebound, Melvine Malard had a good chance to score but she fired over.
United finally got the breakthrough in the 61st minute when Terland continued her fine form in the Champions League.
Jayde Riviere played a great ball down the line to Celin Bezit. The Norwegian twisted and turned and beat her marker before playing a deep ball into the box that was cleverly flicked back across the penalty area by Malard.
Terland, who bagged a hattrick in the first round qualifier, fired the Red Devils into a crucial lead.
Toone almost added to United’s lead late on but her shot from distance was well stopped by the keeper.
United held on intelligently with some impressive game management to keep the ball away from their opponents to secure the victory.
What’s next?
It is the first time that United Women have made it past the second round and just two more games stand in their way before they can play Champions League football.
The draw for the third round will take place tomorrow at 11am BST.
The two-legged matches will take place on the 11th and 18th September.
Full-time scenes in Sweden 😍🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/wXHJiKPYYa
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) August 30, 2025
Featured image Michael Campanella via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
