Aston Villa 0 – 4 Manchester United
By Catherine MacKenzie (23/03/2025)
Above: Manchester United celebrate their win. Photo: Manchester United Women on X.
Manchester United beat Aston Villa by a resounding four goals to nil in Birmingham, thanks to a brace from Elisabeth Terland and goals from Grace Clinton and Leah Galton.
It is unlikely that anybody would have predicted Aston Villa’s season. That new manager Robert De Pauw would be replaced mid-season under a cloud of scandal; that they would remain hovering above the relegation places with five games left to play; that their squad including former internationals like Rachel Daly and Jordan Nobbs, youth internationals like Missy Bo Kearns and Katie Robinson, would struggle to find any semblance of a cohesive identity.
Their last win came a month ago against Brighton, and since then they have been beaten by fellow relegation potentials Leicester City, Everton, and Crystal Palace (in what was only Palace’s second win of the season).
Conversely, most Manchester United fans would not have predicted that this close to the end of the season, they would sit seven points clear of Manchester City and equal on points with Arsenal in the Champions League places, with occasional mentions of a title challenge.
Coming into Sunday’s game, however, the picture was slightly muddier. In their last outing, United were treated to a brutal loss at the hands of rivals Liverpool. It was undoubtedly United’s worst performance of the season, and the defence that had only conceded six goals in the preceding fifteen games let in three. To secure their spot in the top three, the game at Villa Park (on United manager Marc Skinner’s birthday) had to finish with three points.
Considering this, Skinner surprised fans by dropping stalwart Dutch midfielder Dominique Janssen to the bench. Janssen is known for her ability to protect the defence and move the ball around the midfield, making crucial challenges and having a seemingly innate ability to win almost every ground duel she encounters. At this moment it is unclear if she has developed an injury, or if she was being rested due to fixture congestion.
From the whistle, United dominated possession. A criticism levelled against possession based teams is that holding on to the ball is useless if nothing is done with it. United have been guilty of this at times, however this was never a feature of their game at Villa Park.
Instead of cautious passes around the midfield and back to the defence, they made every attempt to pass the ball forward. The visitors managed five shots in the opening fifteen minutes, including a double chance for Ella Toone.
United made this count in the 22nd minute. From a weak Villa counter-attack, Jade Riviere passed the ball to Celin Bizet, who knew exactly where her Norwegian compatriot would be. Elizabeth Terland notched her eighth goal of the season, and United were up and running. It only took nine minutes for Terland to score her second of the evening, as Riviere provided a sublime ball into the box for an easy header.
Villa could not retain possession, and lacked cohesion. They did not seem to know what their own style of play should be, so instead they flipped between systems and formations in a chaotic and unconfident way.
Shortly following half-time, Grace Clinton brushed off the Villa defence to score what must be a contender for goal of the season, lobbing the keeper from near the half way line.
Celin Bizet was forced off following a mistimed challenge from Danielle Turner, in considerable distress. United fans felt the resulting yellow card should have been red, and it was perhaps a sense of injustice which gave United even more motivation to push forward and improve their goal difference. Terland almost scored her third, and United were relentless.
United’s fourth goal eventually came from Leah Galton, following an unselfish pass from Terland, who chose to give up her second opportunity for a hat trick.
Villa were resolutely beaten and appeared dejected. With matches against Liverpool and Arsenal still to come, the midlands side will be desperate to come up with some new ideas to avoid their sixth consecutive defeat. For United, they will be looking to keep momentum and prove that the Liverpool defeat was an anomaly. Given their final three games include Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City, their upcoming game against a resurgent Everton is all the more important.
TEAMS: ASTON VILLA: D’Angelo, Grant, Parker, Patten, Turnier, Tomas, Kearns, Nobbs, Baijings, Daly, Nunes. Substitutes: Talbert, Sallaway (for Tomas 76′), Pacheco (for Turner 60′), Maltby, Staniforth (for Baijings 60′), Taylor, Robinson (for Grant 82′), Hanson, Salmon (for Nunes 60′).
MANCHESTER UNITED: Tullis-Joyce, George, Turner, Le Tissier, Riviere, Miyazawa, Clinton, Galton, Toone, Bizet, Terland. Substitutes: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Janssen, Sandberg (for George 46′), Mannion (for Riviere 88′), Naalsund, Awujo, Malard (for Bizet 56′), Williams (for Sandberg 69′).
Scorers: Terland 22’, 31’, Clinton 45’, Galton 64’
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Attendance: TBC
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