Toone on song for the Reds as Foxes suffer second straight defeat
LEICESTER RUE MISSED CHANCES IN SUPER LEAGUE ENCOUNTER
ELLA Toone’s 22-yard rocket got Manchester United off to a decisive start as the Reds stormed to a 3-1 victory over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, writes Josha Holland, of Sportsbeat.
United were dealt an early blow when Millie Turner was stretchered off the field early in the first half.
Maria Thorisdottir, who was subbed on for her injured teammate, added to Toone’s 36th-minute strike with a second-half effort of her own and Martha Thomas contributed a third 19 minutes from time.
Leicester were able to claw one back through Abbie McManus but it wasn’t enough to deter a dominant United side at King Power Stadium.
New manager Marc Skinner’s side entered the match buoyant from a 2-0 win over Reading on opening weekend, while the freshly-promoted Foxes were hoping for better luck in their home Barclays FA WSL debut after falling 2-1 to Villa.
United nearly put an instant damper on the home side’s hopes when Kirsty Hanson’s shot was tipped away by Kirstie Levell.
Turner, in Skinner’s starting XI for the first time this season, was caught up in a collision outside the penalty area, forcing Thorisdottir to enter the game 15 minutes in.
United finally took the lead after 35 minutes through Toone’s superb strike from distance. The 22-year-old was beautifully set up by Katie Zelen before firing past Kirstie Levell.
Thorisdottir doubled the lead in the 47th minute, swiping home from a corner for her first goal in United kit.
McManus, who joined Leicester from United over the summer, cut the lead in half 15 minutes later, calmly heading home at the back post from a corner after being left unmarked in a crowded penalty area.
But summer signing Martha Thomas quickly restored the twogoal advantage, pouncing on a loose ball to secure the three points.
Leicester City manager Jonathan Morgan said: “We know Manchester United are a fantastic team and talking to Marc at the end, I said to him that that’s where we want to get to.
“We felt that in the first 60 minutes we should have been a bit more clinical again and it could have been a different game, in terms of if we took a couple of our chances.
“Saying that, they still had chances themselves and they probably could have seem themselves be more clinical.
“What I’m pleased with the girls is we stayed true to our press, we stayed true to keep high energy. Yes we did die in the last 30/20 minutes, we just got to get fitter.
“We’re going to work hard on that and not going to change that but it shows us that if we do work harder, we can still cause problems against these big teams in the WSL.”
Manchester United goal scorer Ella Toone said: “It felt great. I felt like I got on to the ball quite a lot compared to the last game. I enjoyed it today.”
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