Brian Sorensen’s Everton women side picked up a valuable point this afternoon, upsetting the WSL leaders, Manchester United with a resilient performance on their travels. Could they still make the Champions League places?
The toffees have been in poor form in cup competitions lately, being knocked out of the FA Cup last week by Birmingham City. However, their league form is a much different story.
Sorensen’s side have won all of their last 3 games in the Women’s Super League, beating Tottenham Hotspur, Reading and West Ham, boosting them to 5th in the league.
Their fixture against table-toppers, Manchester United, however, was expected to be a completely different task, with The Red Devils in incredible form of late, winning 7 of their last 8 games in all competitions with only one league game lost all season.
As expected, it would be the home side that would create the most chances, with Lucia Garcia hitting the woodwork early on and Katie Zelem coming close in the first half, but Bosnan and the Everton defence would hold strong.
Manchester United would remain on the front foot in the second half, with Ella Toone having her try at hitting the woodwork.
More resilient Everton defending would mean that the final whistle would earn the blues an impressive point on the road.
FT. A performance full of passion, hard work and resilience.
— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) February 5, 2023
Well deserving of a point, girls! 👏
🔴 0-0 🔵 #MUNEVE pic.twitter.com/CgQMCbI2Gb
After the match, Everton manager Brian Sorensen gave high praise to his side after their performance [via EvertonTV]:
“Defensively we were spot on, and we worked really hard together. We were very compact.”
“All the players were switched on when the ball came into their areas. Overall, it was a very good defensive performance.”
“I said before the match that if I need to carry them off the pitch, then I’ll do that.”
“The last time we played them, they killed us with their intensity. Today, we matched them, and if you want to win against teams like Manchester United, you need to match their intensity.”
Next up for Everton is a meeting with Aston Villa at Walton Park, with the toffees now firmly in the race for the European places with 10 games to play.