Manchester, UK – Manchester United demonstrated their growing competitiveness in the Women’s Super League, securing a hard-fought draw against reigning champions Chelsea on Friday night, but manager Marc Skinner and his team are aiming for more than just challenging the league’s established powers.
Chelsea, under Sonia Bompastor, completed a domestic treble last season - the WSL title, Women’s FA Cup, and League Cup – and went 22 league games unbeaten during that run. They haven’t lost a WSL match as a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool on May 1, 2024, a streak exceeding 500 days.
Despite the draw, Skinner highlighted the importance of his team’s performance. “We’re building.You can see it,you can sense it,” he said. “We are disappointed to not win the game. The chances we created, not many teams could create that against Chelsea. So for us to do that and in the way we did it was credit to them [the players].”
United, promoted to the WSL in 2019, have quickly become title contenders, finishing just two points behind Chelsea in the 2022-23 season. They added to their momentum the following season by winning the FA Cup, their first major women’s trophy.
Former England striker Eni Aluko believes the draw against Chelsea underscores United’s progress. “You have to look at that consistency,” she said. “They’ve played 11 times against Chelsea now and only drawn once, now the second time, so I think it’s really good for their consistency and what they’re doing as a club and a team. It shows it’s working and they’re improving.”
Aluko further emphasized Skinner’s achievements, noting, “What he’s done with these players, the beliefs, the DNA, how resolute they are… He hasn’t got the amount of money or been able to spend the amount of money the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal or [Manchester] City have done.”
