The England forward was the mastermind of the Red Devils' downfall in a pulsating contest as the Sky Blues leapfrogged their rivals in the table
Sunday was set up to be a huge day for Manchester United. A club record 43,615 fans poured into Old Trafford to watch the women's team take on bitter rivals Manchester City in the Women's Super League and captain Katie Zelem gave the Red Devils the lead with 21 minutes on the clock. It was all going to plan. But the defining image of the latest instalment of this derby will instead be that of England star Chloe Kelly shushing the home crowd as City scored two goals in 79 seconds to turn the game around and paint Manchester blue.
It was the visitors who started the better of the two, with Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp in particular testing Mary Earps in the opening stages. United grew into it, though, and they took the lead when Melvine Malard's shot struck the outstretched arm of Lionesses defender Alex Greenwood in the box, with Zelem reliable as ever from the penalty spot.
Marc Skinner's side thought they had doubled that lead not long after, but Geyse was instead denied by the assistant's flag after the ball was ruled to have crossed the line and gone out for a goal-kick before she put it into the back of the net, and then the momentum shifted dramatically thanks to two goals in two minutes.
Kelly got the better of Lisa Naalsund down the left for the equaliser, picking out a well-positioned Jill Roord, who left Earps helpless when she found the bottom corner with deadly accuracy to level things up. Seconds later, it was 2-1, with City winning the ball high up the pitch and Shaw setting up Hemp to beautifully curl a shot into the top corner.
There was a feeling that City needed to make their dominant end to the first half count. Earps came up big to stop Kelly making it 3-1 before the break and United had the chance to go inside and reset with the deficit still just one goal. However, missed chances would come back to haunt the Red Devils rather than the Blues, with City going 3-1 up before the hour mark when Earps smashed an attempted clearance from Maya Le Tissier's under-hit backpass against Shaw and was only able to watch as it trickled into the back of her empty net.
United huffed and puffed but couldn't break down the City defence to get back into the game, even after Laia Aleixandri's second yellow card saw the visitors reduced to 10 for almost half an hour. Instead, after back-to-back defeats, this win was huge for City, who leapfrog United in the WSL table to move into third place and a Champions League spot. There's still plenty of work to do in the title race, though, with Chelsea six points ahead of them at the top of the table.
GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from Old Trafford…
GettyLOSER: Maya Le Tissier
Even when Man Utd underwhelm, it's rare that Le Tissier does. Seemingly always a player that you can expect a 7/10 performance from, perhaps Sunday was a reminder of the fact that she is still a very young player who is still learning and lacking in experience.
She got on the ball plenty, as usual, but lost possession 15 times at Old Trafford, which was quite unlike her. It was a number only five players ranked worse in, two of them attackers. The long, defence-splitting passes that have become a key feature of her impressive performances were not as prominent on this occasion and it was all compounded by City's third goal.
Le Tissier's pass back to Earps was short, even if the goalkeeper seemed to be surprisingly slow to meet it, and the resulting clearance cannoned off Shaw and into the back of the United net. Still 21 years old, and so talented, this was a day for her to learn from.
AdvertisementGettyWINNER: Chloe Kelly
Kelly has made quite a start to this new season and that continued in Sunday's huge win at Old Trafford. She was electric in this derby, creating four chances, more than any other player on the pitch.
One of those was particularly huge, as she beat Lisa Naalsund brilliantly to drive into the box and cut the ball back to Roord, who found the bottom corner with a fantastic strike. Man Utd just didn't know how to deal with her.
England boss Sarina Wiegman was in the stands to watch Kelly light the game up and she certainly staked her claim to continue to be a key player for the Lionesses, who have a huge international break in December that will decide their Olympic and Nations League fates. Arsenal star Beth Mead will be coming back into contention for her country soon after recovering from an ACL injury, which will increase the competition for a place out wide, but Kelly continues to prove that she can be a game-changer even in the biggest matches.
GettyLOSER: Ella Toone
After a tough year, there have been glimpses that Ella Toone is getting back to the level that made her such a star for England and Man Utd but Sunday was a difficult one for the playmaking midfielder.
Toone didn't struggle to get involved in the first half, she actually took up excellent positions and her runs were often found on the counter, but her decision making let her down. There was a huge moment in the first half where she went for a pass rather than taking on the shot herself and it was one that was mis-hit and cleared by the City defence. It was a clear sign of a player lacking confidence.
In the second half, Toone's involvement faded somewhat. In fact, she had as many touches in the game as substitute Lucia Garcia, who entered the match in the 68th minute, and only Nikita Parris, hauled off at half time, had fewer touches of any starter.
GettyWINNER: Manchester City
It's still early days in this WSL season but a loss at Old Trafford on Sunday would've put Man City at a serious disadvantage in the title race. Coming into the match having suffered back-to-back defeats, a disappointing loss at Arsenal followed up by a shock at the hands of Brighton, a third in a row would've left them not only low on confidence but also nine points off table-topping Chelsea with only seven games played.
When they went 1-0 down thanks to Zelem's penalty, then, head coach Gareth Taylor must've been fearing the worst. City had dominated the opening exchanges but hadn't made them count. It was a familiar tale that was unfolding – but his team ensured that they changed the way it was going.
A fantastic response to that opening goal saved this game and City did brilliantly to see the game out when they went down to 10, too, to secure a huge three points that puts them right back amongst it in these early stages of the title race.
