Man Utd made statement with WSL draw against Chelsea – boss Marc Skinner

Manchester United made a statement by matching Women’s Super League champions Chelsea in an entertaining 1-1 draw, according to manager Marc Skinner.

Anna Sandberg cancelled out Wieke Kaptein’s early opener with a fine volley and both teams missed chances to claim victory in Leigh as Chelsea dropped points for the first time this season.

Skinner stressed ahead of the match that his team needed to be brave in attack, and he said: “I would say I think it’s a statement for ourselves that actually, when you do it, when you play football and you believe in what you do.

“I felt when we beat Chelsea in the semi-final of the FA Cup, that was a bit of a smash-and-grab. But I felt tonight that we took them on aggressively.

“It shows that my team are growing in maturity and they’re putting a standard out for themselves to follow – and I think that’s really important.

“We haven’t beaten them yet in the league, so we need to beat them. And the thing with Chelsea is they just keep moving when you try and get near. So we have to try and maximise our own qualities to get as close as we can.”

Chelsea have still not lost in the WSL under Bompastor but this was an uncomfortable evening for the champions and the Frenchwoman’s bubbling frustration saw her pick up a yellow card.

“I had sometimes some frustrations about the refereeing,” she said. “As you could see, I got a yellow card for no reason. That’s her call.
I think she made the wrong call.”

Chelsea finished the match strongly and Bompastor felt her side could have come away with more.

“I don’t care about our unbeaten run,” she said. “The only thing I care is making sure we get the good results this season to grab the title, if possible.

“I think it was a fun game to watch and this is a good advertisement for the women’s game.

“I’m a little bit frustrated about the result because we want to play every game to win them.

“We couldn’t tonight, I think we were a better team in the second half, especially without the ball and we tried until the end of the game, so proud of my players on the fact they tried until the end to score.

“As much as we have the desire to win every game, I think maybe not a bad result coming here, playing in Manchester, one of the toughest places to play, getting a draw.”