Manchester United Women beat Paris Saint-Germain on penalties to top their group in the Women Sevens Football series in Portugal.
The Red Devils had previously vanquished AS Roma 3-2 and SL Benfica 3-1 but got off to the worst possible start in this match.
After just 12 seconds, Sakina Karchaoui swept in a flowing move that cut United to ribbons.
The 29 year almost made matters worse for the Red Devils, as she went one on one with back-up keeper Safia Middleton-Patel but lifted the ball the wrong side of the post.
This young United side never lie down however and after five minutes were level. Captain Maya Le Tissier won the ball in the centre of the park and fired the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.
Clearly two of the better teams in the tournament, they struggled to unlock each other’s defences over the course of the first half.
United were largely restricted to long-range efforts with Celine Bizet wildly firing over just before half-time.
PSG got off to another lightning fast start in the second half however, with Jennifer Echegini winning the ball in the area and firing past Middleton-Patel to restore the French club’s lead.
United tried to respond but Aoife Mannion’s shot from distance was easily saved.
Marc Skinner’s side were able to draw themselves level just minutes later when Jess Simpson guided in a low cross across goal to make it 2-2.
Both sides pushed for a later winner and Melvine Malard came closest for the Red Devils with just two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, she powered over a header from close-range.
PSG almost grabbed a winner as the final seconds ticked by but their last ditch effort was well saved by Middleton-Patel.
United then played an extra time of five minutes where a golden goal would have won the match. Nonetheless, neither team could find a winner and it went to penalties.
Interestingly, Kayla Rendall was brought on for a keeper change for the penalty shootout. Both teams kept their nerve until the seventh PSG penalty rattled the crossbar, giving the Red Devils a 7-6 win in the shootout.
The victory meant United topped the group ahead of the French giants and will now face Manchester City in the semi-final later today at 16.30 UK time.
The other semi-final will take place between PSG and Bayern Munich with the final following later tonight.
Penalty shoutout-winning scenes! 🤩🎬#MUWomen || #WorldSevensFootball pic.twitter.com/BBJttbJFRy
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) May 22, 2025
Featured image Gualter Fatia 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.
