Elizabeth Terland takes Man Utd women closer to UCL group stages with a 1-0 victory against Swedish side Hammarby.
Elizabeth Terland fires Manchester United a step closer to Women’s Champions League.
Maya Le Tissier commended her colleagues for “fighting for the badge” after Manchester United defeated Hammarby in a nerve-wracking second qualifying round match in Stockholm, advancing them one step closer to the Women’s Champions League.
After scoring a hat-trick in United’s previous qualifying match on Wednesday, a 4-0 victory against PSV, Elisabeth Terland’s fourth goal in two games was sufficient to advance the team. However, Saturday’s match was much less one-sided because United faced a difficult challenge from Sweden’s Hammarby, and United captain Le Tissier was aware that the visitors’ defensive efforts had been crucial.
“It was an intense game,” Le Tissier told MUTV. “They [Hammarby] are really, really physical, good on the break and good on the counter. Their speciality is crosses and they were really good at that, but we defended really well. Everyone got together and it was a proper team effort to stay connected. [We] fought for the badge and fought for the win. We were solid today. I’m really proud of the players.”
After their pivotal victory on Saturday, Manchester United, who have never participated in the Women’s Champions League main draw, are now only two legs away from doing so.
Melvine Malard deftly glanced Celin Bizet’s right-ring cross back across the penalty area to Terland, who squeaked the ball into the net at the near post to give Terland the lead in the 61st minute. In a game that had been fiercely contested and lacked decisiveness in either penalty area, Malard’s assist and the cross were two much-needed moments of excellence.
This mini-tournament of four teams, which was contested at the Swedish venue 3Arena and had the rather long-winded name of second qualifying round league path group one, was won by Marc Skinner’s team. Skinner’s team remained patient as they looked for their breakthrough despite Hammarby’s advantage of having over 5,000 boisterous supporters.
United’s performance was not particularly impressive, and they will need to do better if they want to advance past the third qualifying round and play in the new league phase alongside Chelsea and the reigning champions, Arsenal.