Under the watchful eye of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United Women beat Bridgwater United 2-0 in the FA Cup and have progressed to the fifth round.
It was one of United’s players of the season who had the first shot for the Reds, when Ella Toone in the third minute took a right footed shot but it went just wide.
Martha Thomas had a good chance in the opening ten minutes too as she tried to find the top corner but it brought a good save from Beth Howard in goal for Bridgwater.
United were making Bridgwater work hard defensively as Toone got another opportunity, heading it goalwards, but Howard made another good save.
A glimpse of a counter attack came for Bridgwater but United cut it out quickly.
The Reds came again and this time they were clinical, making the breakthrough with a goal from Hayley Ladd in the 17th minute.
United were dominating possession and had a number of shots but Bridgwater’s keeper was alive to the danger, denying Martha Thomas with a brilliant dive.
Marc Skinner’s side were struggling to adapt to the pitch though, as their passes bobbled over the ground and didn’t run through as they expected.
In the dying moments of the first half, United gave away a free kick outside of the box, Stripple took it but the United fans were relieved to see it go just wide.
Early in the second half, Bridgwater got their first shot on target. Leah Burridge took a right footed shot from 35 yards out but it was saved by Earps in the centre of goal.
Fuso showed her pace driving forward, she played it to Toone but she wasn’t able to get a clean connection on the ball.
Defender Martha Harris, who has been out for a long time had a shot shortly after coming on but unfortunately it was just wide.
Though Bridgwater frustrated United, they got their second goal in the 82nd minute. It was Toone, who had had a number of chances saved by Howard, who found the net with a lovely strike from the edge of the box.
In the 87th minute, with her father watching on, Karna Solskjaer made her senior debut for Manchester United. In the short time she was on the pitch she got herself into good positions and fought to maintain possession.
In the final minutes Jackie Groenen had a shot that looked goal bound but it was deflected by a defender into the hands of Howard.
It was a convincing performance from Skinner’s side, who dominated possession and got the job done.
Team: Earps, Mannion, Thorisdottir, Blundell (Harris 59), Toone, Thomas (Russo 75), Zelem (Boe Risa 59), Ladd, Fuso (Solskjaer 87), Smith, Jones (Groenen 59)