Aston Villa defeat Manchester United on penalties in Conti Cup group stage | OneFootball

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·1 October 2022

Aston Villa defeat Manchester United on penalties in Conti Cup group stage

Article image:Aston Villa defeat Manchester United on penalties in Conti Cup group stage

Aston Villa claimed victory in their opening group match in this season’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup, beating Manchester United 4-3 on penalties at The Poundland Bescot Stadium following a 1-1 draw in normal time.

Rachel Daly’s goal cancelled out Nikita Parris’ opener for the visitors, forcing the game to be decided on penalties with Aston Villa taking the bonus point.

Summer signing Daly was closest to breaking the deadlock for The Villans inside 1o minutes, however, it was Parris who opened the scoring for Manchester United with 16 minutes played. Her strike from range sailed past Anna Leat in the Aston Villa goal and was met by a roar from the army of travelling fans. The goal was her first in red and white, the perfect way to mark her full debut.


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Neither team dominated possession as the first half went on but both sides were looking dangerous at times. It was Manchester United who had the better chances, Parris and Adriana Leon both went close but Leat was able to clear any danger.

Despite the one-goal lead for Manchester United, it was a first half that could’ve gone either way and a big second half was needed by both teams if they were going to secure maximum points.

Aston Villa came out brightest in the second half, holding possession around the penalty area and creating plenty of chances.

With 10 minutes played, they should’ve capitalised. Daly’s strike looked like it was goal-bound but clattered off the woodwork and the ball fell to the feet of Emily Gielnik. Despite her best efforts, her strike was pushed away by Manchester United goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley and the ball was eventually cleared.

It took a triple substitution to kick the visitors up a gear but it was still not enough to quieten down a lively Aston Villa side.

With a little under 20 minutes to go, Daly finally had her well-deserved goal. She scored from close range to bring the game level.

Aston Villa should have been able to put the game to bed in the closing minutes as Baggaley’s fumbled save looked to have crossed the line, however, nothing was given. The strike from Laura Blindkilde Brown would’ve rounded-off an impressive second half performance from the substitute.

With the scores level at full-time, the game went to penalties to decide which team would be awarded an additional point. In total, 14 penalties were taken with Aston Villa missing three and Manchester United failing to convert four. Maz Pacheco netted the winning spot kick after Ona Batlle had seen her effort saved as Aston Villa won the shootout 4-3. The Villans take two points from the game while Manchester United leave with one.

The action in Group A resumes on 26 October when Aston Villa travel to Everton and Manchester United go to Durham.

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