Man Utd’s tough week continued with a second defeat in five days ending their perfect Champions League record as Wolfsburg bounced back from Fridolina Rolfo’s early opener to run out 5-2 winners in Germany.
After their previously steadfast defence was breached three times at Man City on Saturday, United shipped four goals in a game for the first time this season – and made life far too easy for their hosts to score them.
Things had started so brightly for Marc Skinner’s side, who took an early lead through Rolfo’s bullet header, but once a poor clearance from Safia Middleton-Patel was pounced upon by Ella Peddemors three minutes later, Wolfsburg took full control.
Man Utd’s defensive generosity towards Peddemors continued as her cross was allowed to squeeze beyond Middleton-Patel at her near post before half-time, and when Lineth Beerensteyn fired home a superb third the hosts appeared on their way to victory.
Melvine Malard pulled one back for United moments later to restore some hope, but the momentum remained with the hosts after the break and they added a deserved fourth through Beerensteyn’s second, firing through the legs of Maya Le Tissier.
As if to sum up their own plight, Jayde Riviere made it a hat-trick of Man Utd defensive errors with a blind back pass to Middleton-Patel intercepted by Vivien Endemann who rounded the goalkeeper before finishing off a miserable night for the WSL side.
Despite their heavy defeat, Man Utd remained temporarily clear inside the Women’s Champions League quarter-final automatic qualifying spots, with three wins from four in the competition so far.
Skinner: United punished by clinical Wolfsburg
Manchester United boss Marc Skinner felt his side were “punished” by Wolfsburg.
After slipping to a first defeat in the competition, Skinner told MUTV: “The manager and experience in me looks at the point that they’ve had six shots on target and scored five.
“That’s part and parcel of the game, you have to understand it. I don’t think it was a 5-2 game, I think we’ve given them almost three or four of those goals.
“It’s on us as a collective. We’ll learn from it, it will help our young team grow. We’ve been excellent this competition so far. We’ve just played a team tonight that’s punished us.
“They’ve done nothing special, they’re a direct team and so we have to be better at controlling the game. There are mistakes we’ve made tonight that we have to put right and make sure we don’t do again.”
