Marc Skinner believes Manchester United require a “miracle” to overhaul Chelsea and win the Women’s Super League on the final day of the season, despite a last-gasp winner against Manchester City giving them hope of a first title.
United looked poised to gift a fourth successive title to Chelsea by drawing against City until Lucia García’s injury-time strike. United need to win on Saturday at Liverpool but still require Chelsea to drop points at bottom club Reading. If Emma Hayes’s side draws and United win, it would be decided on goal difference.
“We just need to win our game and score as many as we can, if we can, put Liverpool under pressure and do everything we can do,” Skinner said. “If it happens, it happens, it’s not in our control, so it would be wasted energy. If the miracle happens, I promise I will get a drink and we can have one together.”
There was a record crowd at Leigh Sports Village for the Manchester derby, in which United confirmed at least second spot and a Champions League place. United took an early lead through Hayley Ladd but were pegged back by City in the second half, despite the sending off of Ellie Roebuck before the break but secured the points in injury-time in an entertaining spectacle.
“Tonight was special,” Skinner said. “If we can keep giving the fans that and European nights, we will be a force in this game for many years to come. We’ve achieved something wonderful, but we are not stopping here and at the end of the season I will smile and we will have a celebration.”
If Chelsea do secure top spot, it would be their fourth title in a row. Hayes said before United’s match: “If we win the title this will hands down be my favourite. It will feel that way.”
Hayes required an emergency hysterectomy in October, missing a number of matches while she recovered. “Maybe that’s why it’s my favourite year,” she said. “My own personal health issues, that was friggin’ hard. To come straight back into work off the back of a hysterectomy.
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“Trust me, I know now I’ve had one, but to do it knowing I have trust of the competency, the expertise around to be able to deliver that in a way where I trust these people with my life and vice versa. It’s not about me, it’s about the whole team. I know on any given day that everybody can deliver a high level because the culture has been set over a long period of time. I’m so grateful to my staff, I’d be dead in the water without them.”