Mary Earps received the boos she feared on her return to Manchester United, 501 days after leaving, then departed defeated. Marc Skinner’s team cuffed aside Paris Saint‑Germain courtesy of Fridolina Rolfö’s expert second-half header.
When jogging out for the warmup Earps was cheered, but when the crowd swelled for kick-off the jeers came, though for a player whose CV shows nine clubs, 52 England caps, and a Euro 2022 winner’s medal, this felt water off the proverbial for her.
Skinner said: “I said to her at the end: ‘Look after yourself.’ She’s an intelligent person – she understands the world she’s in.”
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Barça march on but Atlético’s Medina taken to hospital
Barcelona remained top of the Women’s Champions League standings after beating Leuven 3-0.
Barça extended their winning start to the league phase to three matches, having scored 14 times and conceded just once, but they endured a frustrating first half against their Belgian opponents at Estadi Johan Cruyff.
The hosts eventually found the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time when Alexia Putellas, pictured, slotted home from the penalty spot.
A Kim Everaerts own goal extended their lead in the 56th minute before Irene Paredes nodded home from Mapi Leon’s corner.
Barça are top of the standings on goal difference from both Lyon and Manchester United, the only other two teams with a 100% record.
Juventus returned to winning ways in the competition after coming from behind to beat Atlético Madrid 2-1.
Looking to bounce back from defeat to Bayern Munich last time out, Juve fell behind in the 39th minute when Amaiur Sarriegi fired home for Atlético.
However, Emma Stolen Godo responded in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time before Barbara Bonansea scored what proved to be the winner 11 minutes into the second period.
The game was marred, however, by Andrea Medina’s head injury. The Atlético defender was treated on the pitch for more than five minutes after staying down following a sliding tackle in the 73rd minute. She was put in the recovery position by the assistant referee before being taken off on a stretcher.
“Andrea Medina was replaced after suffering a traumatic brain injury,” read a statement from Atlético.
“The footballer is doing well but has been transferred to a hospital center to undergo additional tests.”
Twente and Benfica’s wait for a first Champions League win continues after they settled for a 1-1 draw. Cristina Martin-Prieto opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, but Lynn Groenewegen replied for the Dutch side just seven minutes later. PA Media and agencies
Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images Europe
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United’s manager should be enthused by how his team soaked up pressure at the start of each half, took the lead through Melvine Malard, then responded to Olga Carmona’s equaliser with Rolfo’s winner.
With her first clearance Earps saw her team move downfield and have Jennifer Echegini smash a 25-yard effort off Safia Middleton-Patel’s left post, United’s stand-in goalkeeper a flailing spectator only.
The Queen of Stops had become the queen of the agenda, after her incendiary remarks about Hannah Hampton being installed as England’s No 1 for the European Championship this year. Earps claimed in her book, All In, that Sarina Wiegman had rewarded the Chelsea keeper’s previous “bad behaviour” with England.
Olga Carmona lets fly from range for PSG’s equaliser just before the half-time whistle. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images
PSG’s start was the antithesis of their dire European form – they had lost their first two matches – as Echegini’s near-miss was followed by knitted play that twice put Rasheedat Ajibade in along the right flank.
The jeers for Earps became muted and you wondered if they were fuelled by pro-Hampton sympathisers or United partisans chagrined at Earps having the temerity to leave in the summer of 2024. Skinner said: “It might be [the Hampton-England issue], might be a bit of a returning ex-United player, but I’m pleased she got the reception at the end.”
United made their bow in European competition at the club’s storied home having lost 1-0 at Aston Villa on Saturday in the Women’s Super League, but with a perfect six points in the competition after beating Atlético Madrid and Valerenga.
Skinner’s five changes from that defeat included dropping to the bench Ella Toone and the top scorer, Elisabeth Terland, while injury meant Phallon Tullis-Joyce, United’s No 1, was not in the squad.
A punch-out of a steepling Jayde Riviere ball was Earps’s first act; it came just before the half-hour, an indicator of the mundane fare the crowd of about 15,000 consumed. But soon Earps was beaten.Riviere’s sweeping ball along the right was taken on by Malard. The striker bundled aside Griedge Mbock Bathy and zigzagged for goal; the shot flew past Earps – whose dive seemed low – and into the far-left corner.
This boosted the home fans and the next round of boos aimed at Earps were enthusiastic, though it felt more pantomime stuff than vindictive. More potent was the Ajibade corkscrewed cross that had Middleton-Patel scrambling to jab on to her bar, before a 20‑yard Carmona shot smacked the top‑left corner of the net.
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They came close to the lead moments after the second‑half whistle, as Anaïs Ebayilin’s effort mirrored the start of the match: again it hit the left post, but this time Middleton-Patel pushed the ball there.
Carmona’s next contribution was to bounce a 40-yard pass in front of Echeguni whose run was foiled by United’s alert goalkeeper. Far simpler was Earps clutching an insipid Anna Sandberg free-kick that United’s left‑back floated straight into the gloves and far better was what Sandberg did next: slick Jess Park footwork was followed by the midfielder feeding Sandberg whose cross from the left was pinpoint for Rolfö: the Swede’s header gave Earps no chance.
Despite the boos and jeers, there was still a sizeable amount of appreciation for Mary Earps from the Manchester United fans. Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images
Advantage United, who soon had Malard running in from the right, shooting and drawing a fine save from Earps, low to her left.
Skinner introduced Toone, Terland and Leah Galton for a final phase in which United, again, resisted PSG: so, a job well done for those in red, making it a losing return for Earps, the woman of the moment.
As Skinner said, this will all “blow over” soon for her amid the ever‑fast news cycle. Unless, of course, Earps comes up against Hampton on a football field.
