Manchester United kept their ninth clean sheet of the season on Sunday night, beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to maintain their position in second place. You would have been hard-pressed to find a game more different than the rollercoaster that had started the Women’s Super League day — a 4-3 thriller between Arsenal and Manchester City with the London side coming out on top.
United’s win, settled by an Elisabeth Terland goal, was not a classic with only two shots on target for each team. Manager Marc Skinner has often referred to the ‘Manchester United way’ as being a team that wants to go and attack, but their success this season has been predicated largely on defensive solidity.
“From our perspective, it’s making sure that you start with solid foundations,” Skinner explained in his post-match press conference after the win over Spurs. “It doesn’t mean you have to be defensive.
“We decided at the turn of the year that, in some parts of the first part of the year, we were a little passive in the way we defended. We decided actually that that’s not a Manchester United team and we need to be aggressive.
United’s match-winner Elisabeth Terland applauds the fans after the victory over Spurs (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
“We’ve…
