Man Utd secure third and WCL place with dramatic Man City draw

Manchester United secured third place and Champions League football with a 2-2 draw against rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford despite seeing Aoife Mannion sent off in the second half.

United only had to avoid defeat to ensure their spot among Europe’s elite next season but gave themselves a mountain to climb when Laia Aleixandri and Rebecca Knaak fired City into a two-goal lead.

The former danced into the penalty area and curled home the opener, after United saw a goal disallowed for Elisabeth Terland earlier in the game, before Knaak powered her header home from a corner to double the advantage.

Grace Clinton then drifted in at the back post to pull the hosts back into the fixture, marking a frantic end to the second half, which saw three goals scored in the space of seven minutes.

A tamer second half was then sparked into life when substitute Melvine Malard scored the decisive goal in the fixture but the celebrations were cut short when Mannion was shown her second yellow card of the afternoon, less than one minute after her side drew level.

However, despite being reduced to 10 players for the final 20 minutes, United held on to secure the draw and break the hearts of their rivals in the process.

Man City fall short in race for WCL

Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:

A thrilling game at Old Trafford but Man City will be disappointed that they let this one slip.

With a two-goal lead just before the break, they looked to be in control of this one. However, Clinton’s effort ignited the comeback for United and Malard then made the difference off the bench.

City pushed to re-take the lead but ultimately didn’t make their advantage count on the pitch when Mannion was sent off.

With many of their star players watching on from the stands due to injury, and Leila Ouahabi likely joining them after being forced off, it proved to be just one game too many for Nick Cushing’s side.