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Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has pinpointed his side’s failure to be ruthless enough in front of goal as the reason behind their “uncharacteristic” defeat to Liverpool.
Liverpool beat United 3-1 to dent their chances of challenging Chelsea for the Women’s Super League title.
United were the dominant side in the first half but the hosts took the lead against the run of play when Olivia Smith fired past Phallon Tullis-Joyce in the 42nd minute.
Fuka Nagano doubled Liverpool’s advantage in first-half stoppage time, finishing off a counter-attack.
The Reds had a mountain to climb and in the second half and it got worse after Smith added a third goal from the penalty spot.
United could only manage to grab a late consolation through captain Maya Le Tissier.
After the final whistle, Skinner spoke to MUTV and gave his verdict on the performance and the disappointing result.
The club boss said, “We need to assess what we’ve done and make it better for next week.”
“The detail in our crossing today was off. The delivery needed to be better. If you look at it, there’s spaces where we’ve cut in and it’s just slashing at the ball. That’s why I say it was uncharacteristic.”
“I looked at it and thought, ‘changes?’ But actually we had control of the game for quite a lot of it. But we weren’t ruthless enough in that final third and you’ve got to take your moments in games like this.”
“If [with] their first touch in the box, they score, that’s on us and we have to be better at fixing that.
Skinner gave a positive fitness update on defender Gabby George, who was withdrawn after 53 minutes and replaced by Anna Sandberg.
“I don’t think there’s an injury there.”
George will however need to be assessed more keenly. United are back in action in nine days when they go away to Aston Villa.
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