Man United’s difficult week continued as Wolfsburg ended United’s perfect start in the Champions League with a 5-2 victory in Germany. After United’s defence had been exposed three times at Manchester City on Saturday, they conceded four goals in a single match for the first time this season and made life easy for the hosts.
United began brightly and took an early lead through a Fridolina Rolfo header, but a poor clearance by Safia Middleton-Patel was pounced on by Ella Peddemors three minutes later and Wolfsburg seized control. Peddemors’ subsequent cross slipped beyond Middleton-Patel at the near post before half-time, and Lineth Beerensteyn added a superb third to put Wolfsburg well on course.
Melvine Malard pulled one back for United moments later to briefly rekindle hope, but Wolfsburg kept their momentum after the break. Beerensteyn struck again, firing through the legs of Maya Le Tissier, and Vivien Endemann capitalised on a blind back pass from Jayde Riviere to intercept Middleton-Patel, round the keeper and complete the scoring, capping a miserable evening for the WSL side.
Despite the heavy defeat, United remain temporarily inside the Women’s Champions League quarter-final automatic qualifying places, with three wins from four in the competition so far.
Manager Marc Skinner said his team had been ‘punished’ by Wolfsburg after making avoidable errors. He acknowledged the group must learn from the mistakes, insist on better collective control and use the experience to help the young squad grow.