Manchester United fan Pernille Harder scored twice at Old Trafford against the club she grew up supporting as Bayern Munich gained a precious first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Although United fought back from both of Harder’s strikes, they had no answer when substitute Momoko Tanikawa drove a precise shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area six minutes from time.
It was harsh on Marc Skinner’s side, who showed the resilience to fight back from conceding after just two minutes and then came up with an immediate response after Harder had scored for a second time.
However, they paid a heavy price for conceding those two routine goals, with former Chelsea forward Harder exploiting the home side’s high defensive line on both occasions before outpacing Maya Le Tissier and then applying the cool finish.
United captain Le Tissier levelled the opener from the penalty spot after Glodis Viggosdottir handled Lea Schuller’s cross.
Then, just five minutes after Harder had scored her second, Hanna Lundkvist found the net with a close-range header.
Bayern had the final word though, leaving United with a tough task to overturn the German side’s advantage at Allianz Arena on 1 April.
Man Utd analysis: Naive defending as hosts slip up
Pernille Harder (left) scored the first of her night’s two goals in the second minuteSometimes it is easy to forget how relatively new Manchester United are to the women’s game.
They only announced an intention to join the English second tier in 2018, after years of being criticised for failing to have a women’s team.
While United were winning the Women’s Championship in 2018-19, Bayern were charging to the Champions League last four, where they were beaten by Barcelona.
United simply do not have the history their name suggests, which was probably a reason why they looked so spooked by conceding such an early opener, so early. In fact, the scoreboard was still going through the teams as Harder’s shot nestled in the bottom corner.
Their stressed and hurried play was epitomised by Millie Turner, normally such a calm figure. Trying to play a routine pass back to goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce from just inside her own half, under little pressure, she ballooned it out for a corner.
A second for Bayern in that period would have been calamitous.
But the hosts held on and by the time Le Tissier levelled, they looked the more dangerous side.
Sadly, their threat didn’t materialise into a goal until after Harder had got her second.
Lundkvist’s header in a crowded six-yard box seemed as though it would salvage a draw and give Skinner’s team genuine hope in Munich next week.
But United lacked the game nous to see out a draw. Hinata Miyazawa – one of Japan’s Asian Cup-winning heroes, who had dashed back to play for United – was among the frustrated home players as her international team-mate Tanikawa, who didn’t get off the bench in the final against Australia, had the final word.
