LONDON — Manchester United defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 to go top of the Women’s Super League (WSL), but a straight red card for England international Ella Toone may yet dent the title hopes of the Red Devils as she faces a three-match ban.
With the international break looming, United top the table on 32 points, one ahead of champions Chelsea who have a game in hand.
Toone’s sending-off for an altercation with Spurs midfielder Eveliina Summanen in the 80th minute will see her miss three games, including a cup game against Durham and WSL games against bottom side Leicester City at home and Chelsea away.
After a first half lacking in decent goal-scoring chances, Manchester United upped the tempo in the second and began forcing saves from Tinja-Riika Korpela in the Spurs goal, with Toone also hitting the far post with a cross-shot.
Leah Galton finally broke the deadlock in the 67th minute, out-muscling a defender to win a ball from the right into the box and rifling home from close range.
Bethany England wasted little time bringing Spurs level, latching on to a quick free kick and tearing towards the United’s goal before curling a brilliant shot past Mary Earps.
But her joy at scoring a fourth goal in five games proved to be short-lived.
The ball was in the Spurs net again just 14 seconds after the restart, Molly Bartrip netting an own goal as she tried to deal with another ball into the box from the right, this time from Lucia Garcia.
The visitors looked set to coast to victory until Toone’s red card threw Spurs a lifeline. But despite a late surge, the home side was unable to fashion an equaliser as United held on to win.
Elsewhere, Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-1 to climb above them in the table into third spot, three points behind Manchester United and two behind Chelsea.
At the other end of the table, Leicester City remained bottom despite a much-needed 1-0 win over Liverpool that moves them up to six points, one behind Reading, while a 6-2 thumping by Aston Villa leaves Brighton 10th on eight points, two ahead of Leicester.
It was no surprise when title-chasing United carved out the first opportunity thanks to a slick move where Toone sent Galton through on goal but the forward blazed over. Galton did have the ball in the net not long after but her 22nd-minute header from Ona Batlle’s deep cross was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Rehanne Skinner’s Spurs, despite their six-game losing streak in the division, had also started brightly and should have taken the lead midway through the first half.
Ashleigh Neville managed to take out four United’s players with a superb defence-splitting through ball but England fired over from 14 yards. She saw another effort deflect across the face of goal before Russo’s speculative long-range shot was easy for Tinja-Riikka Korpela to ensure it remained 0-0 at half-time.
United came out with renewed purpose after the break with Galton, captain Katie Zelem and Russo going close. It felt a matter of time before Marc Skinner’s side broke the deadlock but the woodwork denied them when Toone raced into the area and sent a low strike against the base of the post.
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