It feels an age since Aston Villa’s last WSL game, that impressive 2-0 win over Arsenal on the final day in May, and Carla Ward set out with the same hopes today – to compete with the best.
Villa opened the 2023/24 season with the league’s first fixture against Manchester United, in front of a record crowd at Villa Park.
Following another impressive transfer window, fans were keen to see Ward’s first team selection of the season. Netherlands star Daphne van Domselaar made her debut in goal, with Lucy Parker also getting her first start in the Villa back line. Kenza Dali was missing from the squad and Maz Pacheco was only fit enough to make the bench, so Dan Turner moved to the left-back position. New recruits Ebony Salmon and Adriana Leon were named as substitutes.
Our first chance fell to Alisha Lehmann in the opening minutes after the familiar strong run of Kirsty Hanson. The shot was scuffed but the ball found its way out to Lucy Staniforth who made a strong effort from distance and forced a good save from Mary Earps. Manchester United responded, but their attack ended when Gabby George was unable to make a Zelem corner count with a header sent wide.
Van Domselaar’s first big save came in the 14th minute, when she expertly tipped Geyse Ferreira’s low shot around the far post. The resulting corner bounced around dangerously in the box, but ended up in van Domselaar’s hands once again.
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Manchester United had a period of possession, featuring two good chances for Leah Galton to cut in from the left and take a shot on her right foot. Both attempts were off target. At 38 minutes, Lehmann came close to opening the scoring for Aston Villa as she was slipped a clever pass by Parker to send her between the United defenders but her shot was too high.
Villa worked hard to keep the score level going into half-time, and the game remained goalless. Ward made her first change at the break, replacing Laura Blindkilde with Ebony Salmon.
The second half started openly, with both teams creating chances. Dan Turner had a shot blocked and Kirsty Hanson’s long range effort was wide of the target, whilst Rachel Corsie’s header was comfortably saved. Rachel Daly came closest following a corner; Salmon brought the ball down and Daly struck from the edge of the box to hit the top of the bar.
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A game-changing moment came in the 74th minute, when Kirsty Hanson was shown a straight red card for a high foot on Hayley Ladd, an accidental but poorly timed challenge that saw the winger dismissed against her old club. Not long prior to this, Salmon was barged to the floor by Maya Le Tissier just outside of the penalty box, but play continued, so decisions became a talking point.
Immediately after being reduced to 10, Villa took the lead. The first goal of the WSL season was scored by last season’s golden boot winner, Rachel Daly. Adriana Leon had replaced Alisha Lehmann and made a significant impact, finding Daly in the box who shot low into the bottom corner. Lucy Parker’s run started the move, and Daly’s turn and finish put us ahead.
The equaliser came just minutes later, through Lucía García. A corner was not cleared and García was able to fire home from close range at the back post.
An incredible effort was put in by the team to come away with something from this opening game, but Manchester United sealed their victory in the 92nd minute with a header from Rachel Williams. Villa had a couple of last minute corners and van Domselaar came up to try to salvage a point, but the game ended 1-2.
It was a difficult ask to take points from Manchester United whilst down to 10 players, but Villa were frustratingly close to doing so. Van Domselaar has proven a brilliant signing already and Lucy Parker had a strong first game. Substitutes Salmon and Leon looked dangerous and we might expect to see them start against Liverpool next week.
AUTHOR | GEORGIA HOMER
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Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Georgia Homer
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