- LCFC Women were beaten 3-1 by Manchester United at King Power Stadium on Sunday
- It was City’s opening WSL home fixture and first in front of supporters since turning professional
- Abbie McManus scored the Foxes’ goal but it wasn’t enough to take anything from the game
- Manager Jonathan Morgan felt proud of how the team stood up to the task, in spite of defeat
Defeated 3-1 by Manchester United, it was a gusty display from the Foxes, who were two goals down shortly after half-time courtesy of strikes from Ella Toone and Maria Thorisdottir, before Abbie McManus pulled one back.
Martha Thomas completed the scoring soon after, however, to seal three points for the visiting side, but Morgan was not too disheartened when speaking to LCFC TV following the full-time whistle. Leicester were backed by a crowd of 4,473 on their WSL home debut on Filbert Way.
“It was sort of like a rollercoaster this game,” said the LCFC Women manager, who was forced into four changes from the Aston Villa game due to injuries. “This is what it’s about, you have squad depth.
“We still managed to put 11 competitive girls out there, we still had some good subs and we also showed a very clear and distinct pathway from our junior set-up where we had six Academy girls on the bench today.
“And I think, for me, that’s phenomenal to show that we’re prepared to put trust in them and with young (16-year-old) Mackenzie Smith getting on today, it’s a brilliant debut to play against Manchester United.
“It did have a slight impact (making changes) but not enough for us not to be disappointed. We should have still taken our chances and we should still be ruthless in front of goal, as well as our decision-making to keep ourselves in that game.”
A large Blue Army backing was in attendance on Filbert Way for City’s WSL home debut and Morgan was hugely appreciative of the support from the stands.
He continued: “Before the game started, I came out to watch the warm-up and I saw the stadium fill up with all the fans behind us. It was a really nice feeling; it was a special feeling.
“I think as the stadium got fuller; the atmosphere was clear to see. It was a fantastic advert for where teams should be in the WSL and why playing in this stadium has such a big impact.
“Having 4,500 fans was brilliant for our first home game and hopefully we’ve entertained them enough today for them to come back again and also they can see that this is a team that they can be proud of and get behind.”
Further assessing the 90 minutes, Morgan believes the Red Devils showed their experience and quality following McManus’ 61st minute goal on her own home bow, which provided a potential route back into the contest for the hosts.
“We still had half an hour to go,” he explained. “So there was still time but credit to United, after that goal went in, they then controlled the game for five minutes and killed it off.
“They changed the tempo, they did the right things from a game management point of view and that sort of took the sting out of things from our point of view. We are disappointed in the types of goals we conceded, we know we should be better from that point of view.
“While some of them are great finishes, the build up to that wasn’t acceptable. We’ll work hard in training and just get ready for West Ham now.
“It's a great day for the fans, the only disappointing thing today is that we didn’t get them the victory. But the girls put their all out there and they left everything out on the pitch.
“We can’t ask for much more today. We’ll collect ourselves and go again.”