Charlton skipper Coombs proud of team’s display despite 3-0 loss to Manchester United Women

Charlton Athletic Women were unable to threaten Manchester United’s unbeaten FA Women’s Championship record as they lost 3-0 at Leigh Sports Village.

United dominated the first-half and took a 1-0 lead into half-time after Katie Zelem struck from the edge of the box.

Jess Sigsworth and Lizzie Arnot added second-half goals for United to keep them on top of the second tier, with four wins and a draw marking an impressive start to the campaign.

United opened the scoring on 16 minutes thanks to captain Alex Greenwood’s creation, sliding the ball into the feet of Zelem on the edge of the box, she turned and sweetly struck a shot into the top corner.

With Charlton rocking United pressed their advantage, as Kirsty Hanson and Sigsworth both forced Addicks keeper Katie Startup into good saves.

United thought they had doubled their lead on the 25-minute mark when Hanson diverted Greenwood’s first-time cross into the net, only to be flagged offside.

Despite seeing little of the ball, Charlton fashioned their best chance of the game just before half-time when Gemma Bryan stood up a cross for Liz Ejupi, who hit the bar with her headed effort.

United continued to dominate after the break, scoring within 10 minutes of the restart through Sigsworth, after both she and Arnot had hit the woodwork.

Arnot added a goal of her own when she converted Hanson’s low cross.

Charlton captain Grace Coombs said: “We’ve got a lot of positives to take. We worked hard and tried to stick to our game-plan.

“There were a couple of mistakes for the goals. We hit the bar before half-time – if that had gone in, who knows?
“But they are ‘what ifs’ and we are proud of how we came together. They are a great team and they’ve scored a lot of goals this year, so we’re happy that we restricted their chances.”

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