Manchester United Women 5-0 Aston Villa Women

Aston Villa Women lost 5-0 to Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday afternoon.

United dominated from start to finish as Ella Toone (2), Katie Zelem, Lucy Staniforth and Martha Thomas all netted.

The result leaves Villa in 10^th position amidst a run of one league win in six.

United dominated the ball from the outset and took the lead inside 10 minutes.

Toone received a pass from Vilde Bøe Risa on the left-hand side of the penalty area, and the England international swept the ball home emphatically to help United draw first blood.

Villa were in a deep hole just minutes later when Zelem converted a penalty after Hannah Hampton was deemed to have upended Hayley Ladd in the box.

United’s pressure was unrelenting as they continued to dictate play for most of the first half.

Toone, hungry to add to her tally, went very close from long range.

United carried a two-goal lead into half-time and Villa had 45 minutes to turn things around.

The chances of a revival looked even slimmer just minutes after the restart when Staniforth fired past Hampton with aplomb.

Ruesha Littlejohn was withdrawn shortly after having struggled to retain the ball in the middle of the field, with Chloë Arthur coming on in her place.

Hampton was forced to come off as well after picking up a knock in the first half. Sian Rogers came on in her place days after completing a full 90 in the Conti Cup.

United didn’t stop applying pressure, however, as they added a fourth in the closing stages.

Thomas nodded into an empty net, before Toone added a fifth straight after to continue United’s onslaught.

Villa now head into the winter break with many areas to improve in during the second half of the campaign.