Manchester United Start Off The Year Strong With a 7-0 Win

Photo Credit: @adobewomensfacup via Instagram

Yesterday evening's FA Cup match was a crazy one. With a slow first half, only having a single goal from the reds, and an exciting second one, packed with 6 goals and the return of the beloved Ella Toone.

Even though all other FA Cup games that day were delayed due to the cold England weather, Manchester United played against West Bromwich Albion and won by a whopping 7-0 score to the defending champions, booking their place in the next round of the FA Cup. 

GAMEPLAY 

Man United started the game with a 4-3-3 line-up, and with a packed bench ready to make this game a whole lot better for the reds.

West Brom however, started with the less popular 4-4-1-1 line-up, going strong on the defence but not strong enough on the offence, probably why they ended this game with 0 goals and only one attack.

FIRST HALF 

Only 6 minutes into the game and Manchester United have already made 3 shots towards the opposition’s goal post and it was clear that they were there to win.

Albion tried to put up a fight and slow down the game so United wouldn't score, but that proved unsuccessful as the reds made their first goal that night in the 23rd minute of the game by Malard. At that moment you could see the switch in Albion flip as they started to hurry up a bit to try and score an equalizer, though that didn't work for them. Nor did scoring a second goal for the reds happen that half, with West Brom fighting even harder on the defence.

First half ended after 2 minutes of extra time, due to the Albion goalie going down in the 17th minute and the team not having a backup on the bench. It was a scary couple of minutes for the Albion fans, wondering what the team would do without a goalkeeper, but to their luck she got back up on her feet in no time going on to make a few beautiful saves.

It was a 1-0 score to the reds, and after seeing their rusty play in the first half. I'm sure most of us thought it would stay that way for longer, but where the first half lacked, the second one delivered.

SECOND HALF 

The second half started off strong both on and off the field, seeing both a beautiful refreshed gameplay from both teams, and the subs warming up and getting ready to make the second half memorable. 

In the 58th to the 66th minutes of the game, West Brom made one substitute, and Man United made five, including one player we haven't seen for a while. Ella Toone made her comeback after a devastating calf injury after missing both club and national team matches. 

Man United’s subs proved worthwhile in the 77th min with a free kick that led to a beautiful header by Williams, doubling their lead with a 2-0. And only two minutes later would she make another perfect header that went straight in, making the goal count 3-0. Following that goal the Albion coach needed to make some changes, having two substitutions in the 80th min, though some may say it was too little too late. 

In the 83rd min Man United made a short corner leading to Toone making her first goal since her recovery and what a beautiful goal it was, already putting the reds in a winning position, 4 goals over Albion. 

Yet another West Brom substitution was made in the 87th min but that wasn't going to help their case at all with the reds almost doubling their score in 7 minutes. Right before the 90th min Bizet saw her opportunity to score with the others’ goalie standing a little too far from the goal post, and she did even though the Albion defenders tried to stop her. 

There was 7 minutes of extra time at the end of the second half and boy was it eventful, with a Williams hat-trick in the 91st min and a free kick in the 95th min leading to another Bizet goal, making the match result a 7-0 to Manchester United.

STATS 

Man United led 70% to 30% in ball possession and their overall shots counted up to 24 with only 1 from Albion, 2 Man United fouls and 6 Albion ones, and 9 corners taken by the reds and a single one taken by West Brom.

The game was a very interesting one to watch and was the kickstart to 2025 for both teams. Hopefully Manchester United will work a little harder this following year because even though it worked for them this match it might not work in the future against stronger teams.