Brighton 0-4 Man Utd: Leah Galton’s brace helps Mark Skinner’s side extend their advantage at the top of the Women’s Super League as they overturn relegation-threatened Seagulls
- The United player helped get United off on the right foot in just 12 minutes
- Her second goal came midway through the second half from a clear-cut finish
- Goals from Rachel Williams and Lucia Garcia cemented United’s emphatic win
Leah Galton scored a brace to shore up Manchester United’s lead at the top of the Women’s Super League table with a 4-0 drubbing of 11th-placed Brighton.
The forward wrote her name on the scoresheet in each half, and United cemented the win with late strikes from substitutes Rachel Williams and Lucia Garcia.
The Manchester outfit are now three points clear of their crosstown rivals Manchester City at the start of a weekend of WSL action.
With a loss at home, Brighton remain hovering above the relegation place by a single point.
United were dominant from the opening minutes of the match and only 12 minutes passed before the early pressure paid off.
Leah Galton (R) bagged a brace as the league leaders unpicked Brighton at home
Manager Mark Skinner praised Galton, and called the player ‘the best in my opinion on the left’
Galton nodded the ball past goalkeeper Lydia Williams after a fine corner from Katie Zelem.
Brighton’s fightback saw Emma Kullberg’s head just miss glancing the crossbar but before long, United nearly had a double from set-pieces, but Vilde Boe Risa’s header was saved neatly by Williams.
The home side had scant chances and Galton deepened the wound in the 66th minute with a ball struck goalwards from the tightest of angles.
Williams was again outfoxed by United’s strong set-piece play after Rachel Williams bulleted a header into the back of the Brighton net, and just three minutes before time, Garcia added United’s fourth with a clean, bottom-corner finish.
‘If you look at energy to keep pressing even in 90th minute that’s the key difference,’ United boss Mark Skinner told Sky Sports.
United were dominant throughout, leaving relegation-threatened Brighton with work to do
Manchester United now sit three points clear of their close rivals City in the WSL table
‘It’s how much you put yourself in the game. It’s easy to run one way but we run both ways. That’s the sign of a team that wants to fight for each other and wants to win things. We’ve come here to a difficult pitch and we’ve come away winners because o our energy and attitude.
‘It’s about provoking the players to do it, I can shout all I want if the players don’t have hunger they shouldn’t be at United but every one of our players has hunger, commitment and we score late because we’re hungry to keep progressing. That’s this team. Today’s another good learning experience playing on this pitch with this crowd. Wonderful win.’
On Galton’s high quality performance, he added: ‘Everyone knows how I feel about Leah [Galton]. She is the best in my opinion on the left – what she can do with the ball.
‘She times her header perfectly and then the second one she rounds the goalkeeper with minimal space. It helps she’s left footed but it’s what she brings overall.’
BRIGHTON 0-4 MANCHESTER UNITED: MATCH FACTS
Brighton & Hove Albion Women: Lydia Williams, Jorja Fox, Zoe Morse, Megan Connolly, Emma Kullberg, Poppy Pattinson, Katie Robinson, Julia Zigiotti Olme, Libby Bance (Terland, 64), Veatriki Sarri (Visalli 90), Lee Geum-min
Subs: Walsh, Stott, Park, Carter, Victoria Williams, Ferguson, Startup
Bookings: Pattinson, Zigiotti Olme
Man Utd Women: Mary Earps, Ona Batlle, Maya Le Tissier, Millie Turner, Hannah Blundell, Hayley Ladd, Katie Zelem, Vilda Boe Risa (Williams 60), Ella Toone, Leah Galton, Alessia Russo (Garcia, 78)
Subs: Mannion, Thomas, Riviere, Tounkara, Parris, Cascarino, Middleton-Patel
Goals: Walton (12, 66), Williams (86), Garcia (87)
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