Teri, Bizet & Phallon: Key talking points from United Women's win over Tottenham
Two goals from Elisabeth Terland and one from Maya Le Tissier made the difference at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday.
Image: Jamie Spencer
Manchester United made it four wins from four across all competitions so far in the new 2024/25 season with the visit of Tottenham over the weekend.
Although it wasn’t as polished as the score-line may suggest - Marc Skinner later suggested he was happier with the result than the performance - it was another important step towards United getting back to where they want to be after a disappointing league campaign previously.
United rode early Spurs pressure but were ultimately able to get ahead just before half-time, then clinical enough to quickly double that lead. A second half penalty from Maya Le Tissier extended the advantage, while visiting goalkeeper Becky Spencer made other saves that kept the score down in the end.
This was also the first game at which new fan engagement measures were in place, after the club opted to remove post-game player interaction barring pre-selected junior fans being invited to a special meet and greet.
A public address was made during half-time reminding fans that players would no longer stop for pictures and autographs at the side of the pitch after the final whistle, or indeed outside the stadium. A similar announcement then came at full-time, with the players making their way round the perimeter to acknowledge supporters with applause from a distance.
Attendance for this game was confirmed at 4,473, with the majority of LSV crowds last season between 4,000 and 5,000.
Elisabeth Terland off the mark
Terland’s two goals in quick succession right before half-time made the difference. Spurs had enjoyed good spells in the first half but were killed in the space of just a few crucial minutes going into the interval. Her first on 44 minutes would have been a huge blow to Robert Vilahamn’s side by itself, but a second in lengthy first half stoppage time - the result of a couple of significant pauses for injury treatment - put United firmly in the driving seat.
One fierce Grace Clinton strike well saved aside, United hadn’t really created all that much prior to going ahead. That made Terland’s ability to wrap her foot around a cross into the box to fire in all the more important. It wasn’t a clear chance because of the close proximity of centre-back Molly Bartrip, but the Norwegian got there first, brave enough to risk getting clattered, and made a sweet connection that cannoned off the underside of the bar into net. The view from the standing terrace directly behind the goal must have been superb.
It sparked choruses of a Terland chant - a new contender as the catchiest at the club - that continued to be sung throughout the remainder of the match and afterwards. But she wasn’t done there. Another cross into the box a few moments later was also clinically put away, this time with her head. A potential hat-trick early in the second half was only denied by an excellent Spencer save.
Skinner was asked post-game if having a striker put away chances, as Terland had done in those few moments just before half-time to completely change the game, was an improvement on last season. While his response was careful as not to be disparaging of other players, “it does help”. The boss compared ‘Teri’ with Ellen White because of her composure in key moments, while he also likened her mentality and hunger for goals to that of Erling Haaland, someone she knows personally due to her brother’s relationship with his sister.
"[She is] intense, in a good way. She is a person who is always focused. When we played against her last year [for Brighton], I felt that in the box she was deadly - so we kept her out of the box [in those games]. I felt that we could get her into those spaces to score goals,” Skinner explained
Celin Bizet at right-back
United publishing the lineup in squad number order, rather than by positions, kept Celin Bizet’s move to right-back a surprise until the game began.
Even with Jayde Riviere ruled out through injury after what was later described as a “slip” in training, it allowed Gabby George to operate in her strongest position at left-back, also pushing Leah Galton on to her usual wing role.
Bizet isn’t a natural defender, but she has abilities as a pressing forward that can translate in certain situations. It was probably also a helped that Spurs unexpectedly lost Hayley Raso to injury in the days leading up to the game that meant she wasn’t playing against a natrual winger in Martha Thomas.
As Skinner later clarified, Bizet’s attacking quality was what got her the nod over Aoife Mannion to start the game. That paid off when the Norway international was the architect of both Terland goals late in the first half. Getting forward and putting crosses into the box gave her two assists on her first WSL start in a United shirt. There was also hope that she would link up with Grace Clinton, who moved to the right to allow Ella Toone to play centrally, which was indeed the case, replicating their close off-field friendship on the pitch.
Listen to Marc Skinner’s post-game explanation on Bizet here:
Another clean sheet
United are yet to concede a goal so far this season. That was the team’s huge strength during the breakout almost double-winning 2022/23 campaign, setting a new WSL record and Mary Earps claiming the Golden Glove. But the loss of that defensive prowess was also what contributed to falling away in 2023/24.
Earps didn’t have the same incredible year that she had done the year before and it seems like United have fresh energy between the sticks in Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who has looked absolutely at home since taking over as #1…or 91.
The Spurs game could have unfolded quite differently without her contributions, particularly in the first half. The visitors were undeniably better in the early stages, creating the first clear chance when Thomas cut into the box from the left. Tullis-Joyce was quickly out to close the angle and smother the shot. Not long after, she got fingertips to a speculative dipping effort from Drew Spence, while the command she had of her box also breathed confidence into the defenders. It helps being as tall as she is, but there is also no fear in going after high balls and several punches or catches throughout the game relieved pressure. On one occasion punching the ball, she got a whack in an accidental collision that prompted Safia Middleton-Patel to warm up, with the LSV crowd holding its collective breath and then applauding Phallon to her feet. Over the couse of the game, she was in regular contact with goalkeeping coach Ian Willcock, someone Earps credited with her ascent to best in the world.
Even with Spurs pushing until the end for a consolation, long after the game was over as a contest, Tullis-Joyce was able to fully keep her concentration and sprung low to her left to deny Spence with a fine save late on.
Someone will eventually breach the defence, but the longer the cumulative shutout continues, the more confidence the team as a whole will have.
There is a famous line in American sports that ‘offence wins games, but defence wins championships’. Any success that comes United’s way this season will ultimately need to be built on solid defensive foundations.