The day finally arrived, the first game of the WSL season which saw Aston Villa Women host Manchester United Women at Villa Park. With a record crowd of over 12,500 people and the Holte End opened for the first time this was a game to be excited about.
The game started as expected with Man United dominating the possession in the middle of the park with Villa seemingly struggling to be able to keep the ball while poor officiating saw fans becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the first half.
Lucy Parker saw herself the first player booked after a foul on a Man United player, with captain Rachel Corsie following soon into the referee’s book. Fans were getting very frustrated after seemingly many fouls by the away team went unpunished and ignored.
The hosts had a few good chances to score with Rachel Daly hitting the bar, Lucy Staniforth forcing a save from Mary Earps and Alisha Lehmann having a clear chance which she unfortunately failed to get full contact on the ball.
It wasn’t until the second half that the game started heating up. Ebony Salmon was handed her debut coming on at half-time and causing a further attacking threat for Villa. She was through on goal before being body-checked by Maya Le Tissier and seemingly elbowed in the face before going down in what should have been a clear free kick and at least a booking for the Man United defender which once again was left unpunished leaving Carla Ward herself angry after watching the replay.
Three minutes later saw a foul by Kirsty Hanson with no intent to harm the play it was clear she was going for the ball after a poor first touch. Which saw her unfairly receive a straight red card for a high foot. The recent officiating including the recent foul on Salmon saw fans and players getting very angry at the referee and decisions being made. With Villa down to ten players it seemed to be more of an uphill climb to try and get something out of the game.
Just another 4 minutes later, we saw two debutants in Lucy Parker who started the move by winning the ball back and carrying it forward before playing it out to Adriana Leon who carried the ball down the wing before playing the ball across the box to who else than Daly who started this season the way she ended last season and scored in front of the Holte End.
Just as we witnessed last season United equalised a few minutes later with a controversial goal from Lucia Garcia who fans believe after multiple big fouls shouldn’t have still been on the pitch but somehow remained un-carded at this point. The goal also appeared to show a handball from Millie Turner in the build-up, which once again wasn’t picked up on.
Before deja vu happened, United scored the winner – again in added time. This time from Rachel Williams who is known to score a last-minute winner for United. This once again left fans annoyed after seeing the replay as it seemed to show a very obvious offside in the build-up. The officiating in the game seemed very inconsistent and a lot of big calls were missed throughout the game.
It is easy to see why fans were so annoyed throughout the game and Villa were very unfortunate to lose. It was once again a game of poor officiating and a lack of final product for Villa.
However, there were successful positive debuts for Daphne Van Domselaar, Parker, Salmon and Leon and a successful comeback for both Anna Patten and Hanson who had the beating of the opposing fullback before being sent off. It was a successful match for Villa who seemed an improved team and also showed an increased quality with players such as Kenza Dali, Jordan Nobbs and Maz Pacheco still to come back into the team.
I believe we are in for an exciting successful season.