Despite the very late comeback from Manchester United to fight back to a 3-3 draw on Sunday in the Barclays Women’s Super League, Amanda Nilden feels there’s still plenty of positives to take away from the performance.
Up until the 70th minute at Leigh Sports Village, everything was going to plan as we had a three-goal advantage against a side we have never beaten in the WSL before – two headed goals from Bethany England and Eveliina Summanen in the first half before Martha Thomas’ first WSL goal in nearly two years – and against her former side – extended the lead in the second period.
However, United fought back into the contest, Ella Toone pulling a goal back with a strong volley before Fridolina Rolfo cut the deficit to just one with eight minutes left to play. As expected, the home side threw everything at us for the equaliser and despite standing strong for large spells, Rolfo was on hand in the fourth minute of stoppage time to deliver a blow and net the leveller.
It will be a result that leaves us with a sense of frustration – as Amanda alluded to in her post-match interview – but for nearly 70 minutes of the game in Manchester we took the fight to our opponents - and the defender wanted to focus on that side of the performance.
“First half, I’m so proud of the team,” Amanda told us, speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game. “The shift we put in and the way we play for each other is something we’ve talked about and something we really wanted to do.
“We showed that in the first half. We were clinical and scored when we got our chances, so there’s nothing to complain about there. In the second half, of course, it’s hard and we’re under a lot of pressure, but in periods, I think we have it under control. It’s so frustrating to concede so late in the game and, right now, it’s just frustration.
It’s another big point against one of the top sides in the WSL and matches our point tally from last season (20) in 11 less games – so it’s no surprise for Amanda to see the progression in the group. She added: “We’re progressing every day. I feel we have more to come and it’s so fun to play football right now.
“I hope we can keep going like this, take steps every game and improve. It’s good for us to learn from conceding late, and next week there’s another game, so we go again.
“I see it as a positive thing. Conceding so late gives us motivation to come back with revenge and show again that we can play good football like we did in the first half. I’m excited for that game and we definitely have a lot more to come.”