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Manchester United’s hopes of being involved in the main draw of the Women’s Champions League for the first time are hanging in the balance after a disappointing first-leg loss away in Norway in the third qualifying round.
Some poor defending at a Brann free-kick allowed Ingrid Stenevik to head in the game’s only goal, with 14 minutes remaining. The second leg is Leigh Sports Village next Thursday.
United must overturn that deficit if they are to join Chelsea and the holders Arsenal in the new league phase of the competition this autumn.
The defeat capped off an already strange trip to Bergen for United, who were left scrambling after some of the players’ boots went missing in transit. The whereabouts of the missing boots – first reported by Reuters – are understood to remain a mystery, but the club managed to quickly source replacements in time for the match.
A Manchester United source said: “A bag containing some of our players’ boots went missing during the journey to Bergen. We are investigating how this happened. In the meantime, we have secured new boots for all the affected players, and they are ready to participate in tonight’s game as normal.”
Even if that rather curious incident had not made the following gag rather tempting, it would already have been fair to assess this match by stating that United had left their shooting boots at home.
They created chance after chance but simply could not find a way past an inspired Selma Panengstuen in the Brann goal. Quite how United did not score at least two or three goals will surely be beyond them.
The early stages of the first half had included Elisabeth Terland heading wide from an Anna Sandberg cross and a Terland shot deflected off target, before United started to go really close.
After a good run from their deadline-day signing from Manchester City, Jess Park, a lively Ella Toone had a deflected shot superbly saved. Terland headed over from a testing Toone cross and the England midfielder then went close herself.
Brann were backed by a national record crowd for a women’s fixture in Norway of 16,019 and they were on their feet when Panengstuen saved well again, this time from Dominique Janssen, in the second half, after strong work down the left from Melvine Malard.
Against the run of play, Brann then punished United when Signe Gaupset’s inswinging, left-wing free-kick was met in the middle by Stenevik, who was allowed to get in between Lisa Naalsund and Terland to head past Phallon Tullis-Joyce.
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It was a rare attack from the home side and the first goal United have conceded in their four games in all competitions this season, after three previous wins out of three.
They had eliminated PSV and Hammarby in the previous phase of the qualifying process, during a mini‑tournament staged in Stockholm.
Brann are managed by the former Crystal Palace coach Leif Smerud, who replaced the new Tottenham head coach, Martin Ho – formerly of Manchester United’s backroom team – when Ho left Brann this summer.
Smerud was in charge of Crystal Palace during the second half of last term. His new team are four points clear at the top of the Toppserien, the highest division in Norway, and they celebrated this win on a famous night in their history.
They were quarter-finalists two seasons ago but this victory is one of their finest achievements in continental football. For United it was an exasperating night of frustration that leaves them with a lot of work to do next week.
