Mark Skinner hailed a historic night after Manchester United won their first Champions League win at Old Trafford.
The iconic stadium hosted European women’s football for the first time, and United recorded three wins from three matches in the league stage with a 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Much of the focus has been on the return of Mary Earps, who was a favorite with the Red Devils until she left for the French capital at the end of her contract last summer, a decision that did not go down well with many United fans.
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Earps’ comments about that selection, which she attributed in part to a perceived lack of urgency on United’s part to link her to a new deal, combined with the much-publicized criticism of Hannah Hampton and Sarina Wegman in her autobiography, were unsurprisingly booed.
The reaction from the crowd of about 15,000 people was largely negative, although there were cheers as well, and Earps was warmly received by her former teammates at the end.
She was unable to do anything about United’s two goals, which came from Melvin Mallard in the first half and Fredolina Rulfo in the second half, while Olga Carmona equalized before the end of the first half.
Earps’ successor in United’s number one spot, Fallon Tullis-Joyce, was missing after suffering a knock, meaning a first start of the season for Safiya Middleton-Patell, and Skinner was full of praise for the 21-year-old.
He said of the performance: “He had everything we are, he had a team together that wanted to bounce back from a poor performance against Villa which we can put firmly in the back view now because he is coming out like this, even with the news of Fallon not being in the starting XI and Sav coming on the way she did tonight, she is the man of the match.”
“It shows everything – our commitment, how much we love the fans, how much we love the club. There’s not going to be a cohesive team and we needed that. Three great goals tonight. From our point of view, an individual money goal but then a team goal.”
“I’m very happy about that, because if you had told me we had nine points with Lyon and Barcelona after three games, I would have cut off your hand. Congratulations to all the players and staff because we have made history.”
Rulfo, the winner of the match, was very happy to play her part, saying: “It was a great feeling. I am very happy with this win.
“It was a tough game today, a physical competition, but we won and I’m very happy that I was able to help the team score a goal as well.”
Regarding the reception given to Earps, she added: “I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just heard the boos when I got the ball. I also saw some marks with Mary on it, so it was a mixed bag.”
