Three Goals and Three Points

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 7 May at Leigh Sports Village
Result	Manchester United 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0
Competition	Women’s Super League
Hopstats	Ground 767 on the lifetime list.
Context
Manchester United women are top of the table and, were they to win all of their last few games, can only be overtaken by Chelsea who have games in hand. They will see this as a must-win fixture. Spurs women are in mid-table.
In One Sentence
Once Beth England had been thwarted early on, United settled into a good pattern and the result was never in doubt after the first goal had gone in.
So What?
The gap between United and Chelsea remains the same because the latter thumped Everton later in the day. Chelsea are four points behind with two games in hand. The fact that Manchester City lost at Liverpool now means that United are guaranteed a place in European competition next season.
Match Report
The game was preceded by an embarrassingly botched attempt at the national anthem. When the piped audio failed to work, the crowd on my side began their own almost tuneless rendition, which petered out just as a completely different part of the recording became audible, and we descended into laughter. Insert your own metaphor for the nation right here. Given that the match was televised, I’m going to be brief. Manchester United took the initiative but the first real chance came for Spurs’ Beth England. It took a great intervention by Maya Le Tissier after England had rounded keeper Mary Earps. Later on we would be wondering, “What if…?” because it wasn’t to be the visitors’ only chance to get on the scoresheet. United were two up at half time, with Spurs showing almost no more attacking impact other than a break just before the interval. The scorers were Leah Galton, seizing on a defensive error and rolling the ball into the far corner, and Alessia Russo, volleying in a loose ball from close range. Emma Toone caught the eye for her industry, always ready to receive the ball and play progressively. Nikita Parris added a third goal after the interval with a good finish after some defensive hesitation, and with the points secure, it began to resemble a training game, maybe with players thinking about next week’s Wembley visit for the Cup Final. I managed a couple of Duolingo Spanish lessons on and off during the various stoppages and substitutions. Earps was called upon to complete a fine double block to protect the clean sheet but all in all this was as close to a straightforward, routine victory that any team could wish for at this end of the season. Beth England had headed wide, and there was another set piece that went through the six-yard box untouched. Apparently, England manager Sarina Weigman was among the spectators. I’d love to know what she gleaned from the experience, if anything.
A Few Pix
Modern ground, good facilities, very professional and readable programme. I parked in Leigh town centre, about 15-20 minutes away on foot.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 272 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Blue beats Orange, as expected, and keeps a clean sheet. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 45% (57 from 127) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! I have three more women’s fixtures lined up with Chelsea v Leicester on Wednesday, the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley between Chelsea and Manchester United at the weekend, and then another key WSL fixture in West Ham v Chelsea. Later in the month there will be FA Vase/FA Trophy Finals at Wembley (Newport Pagnell Town v Ascot United & Gateshead v FC Halifax Town). As I write, I am in a 40-minute online queue for the National League playoff final between Notts County and Chesterfield. I’m getting a few games in because some of my students are now in the exam season so I work fewer hours per week at this time of year. If you are in one of my classes, and reading this, cease and desist immediately and get back to revision...