Mary Earps received the boos she feared on her return to Manchester United 501 days after leaving, and departed defeated, as Marc Skinner’s team cuffed aside Paris Saint-Germain courtesy of Fridolina Rolfö’s expert second-half header.
When jogging out for the warm-up Earps was cheered but as soon as the crowd swelled for kick-off she was targeted throughout, though for a footballer whose CV shows nine clubs, 52 England caps, and a Euro 2022 winner’s medal, this felt water off the proverbial for her.
Skinner should be enthused by how his team soaked up PSG pressure at the start of each half, took the lead through Melvine Malard, then responded to Olga Carmona’s equaliser. However, Earps could do nothing about Rolfö’s winner.
With her first clearance Earps saw her team move downfield and have Jennifer Echegini smash a 25-yard effort off Safia Middleton-Patel’s left post, United’s stand-in goalkeeper a flailing spectator only.
The Queen of Stops had become the queen of the agenda, after her incendiary remarks about Hannah Hampton being installed as England’s No 1 for the summer’s Euros. Earps claimed in her book, All In, that Sarina Wiegman had thereby rewarded the Chelsea goalkeeper’s previous “bad behaviour” with England.
