Manchester United did not have long to savour the euphoria from their first away derby win. They knew Manchester City would want to exact revenge in the League Cup quarter-final on Wednesday and so would have to at least match or better their performance from Sunday’s Women’s Super League (WSL) game at the Etihad Stadium. If not, that buoyant derby feeling would be zapped.

Both teams’ managers had to balance being competitive in a knockout competition which garners little attention while planning for their next WSL games at the weekend. Marc Skinner rotated United’s squad heavily, making six changes for “freshness”, he said. Despite the change in personnel, the game plan was the same as Sunday: put City under pressure.

Whereas United smothered City at the Etihad and took the game to them, on Wednesday at Leigh Sports Village — where the atmosphere was flat — the hosts sat off City, an aspect noted by visiting manager Gareth Taylor. It allowed City’s players time to breathe.

Skinner chose 37-year-old striker Rachel Williams to lead the press but there was a lack of cohesion in the midfield and forward lines. Gaps between players, such as Williams and Grace Clinton in the No 10 position, became too big. United lost their structure too often and City played more directly than usual, forcing United to be spread over a larger area, often leaving midfielder Hinata Miyazawa isolated.

United did not execute the game plan as efficiently as they had done four days previously and defended poorly, not picking up Laura Coombs’ near-post run for the opener and allowing Lily Murphy to cut inside and fire home for the second. That goal put City 2-1 up in added time of the first half and that is the way it stayed.

Skinner said at half-time some of his players were struggling with “tight hamstring niggles” and so he replaced Millie Turner, who had equalised for United in the 35th minute, with Dominique Janssen as a precaution and Celin Bizet came on for Melvine Malard on the hour mark for the same reason.

United were more aggressive in what was a chaotic second half. “It wasn’t a game for the purists,” said Taylor. What is damning is that United were losing to a City side who have been decimated by injuries and who did not have the luxury to rotate their back line.

“We needed to freshen up,” said Skinner, regarding Williams’ substitution for Elisabeth Terland after an hour. “Rach is the best impact player in the league.” If her best attribute is as an impact player it begs the question why he started her in the first place. But Skinner said he had no regrets about not starting Terland nor Ella Toone, who has just returned from injury.

“We can’t afford to be losing these players this early before we go into a packed end of the season,” he said.

Although Skinner said he wanted to win the quarter-final and argued his side should have had a penalty in the 81st minute when, in his words, “Terland touches the ball first and then gets wiped out” by goalkeeper Khiara Keating, it is evident the league standing and possibility of playing in Europe is more important. United are third in the WSL and the top three qualify for the Champions League.

That ticket to qualification can open many doors in terms of commercial revenue and attracting new talent to the club for the 2025-26 season.

“The priority is to try to get into the Champions League,” he said. “We’re trying to plan ahead.”

United have established a solid foundation in the first half of the season but although the manager said after the winter break he was happy with the number of WSL clean sheets (seven) and the way his team have defended, those standards have slipped in the past two games. In 135 minutes against City, United have conceded more goals (four) than in their past 10 league games (three).

Despite United’s league position, the underlying numbers show their struggles this campaign. United rank in the lower half of the table for possession and are mid-table for the average number of shots registered per 90 minutes, as well as dominance in the attacking third (see field tilt below). This last metric, which measures a team’s share of possession in a game counting only touches or passes made in the attacking third, is one of the targets Skinner has set for his team, as well as maintaining their pressing intensity.

United are out of the cup and the euphoria of a derby victory was short-lived. But the three points gained from Sunday, which lifted United above City into the Champions League spots, may prove to have more of a lasting impact. That will only be the case, though, if United can make the most of it in the second half of this campaign, starting with Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Manchester City, Manchester United, UK Women's Football

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