Manchester United succumbed to the first defeat of their inaugural Champions League campaign 5-2 against Wolfsburg thanks to braces from both Ella Peddemors and Lineth Beerensteyn and a late finish from Vivien Endemann.
The temperature in Wolfsburg may have been close to freezing but the players on the pitch did their bit to warm up the 3,817 spectators in the Volkswagen Arena. Five first-half goals raised the temperature of those present as momentum swung between the two.
United had taken a sucker-punch from Manchester City last Saturday but their Champions League endeavours have been impressive. There are, however, not many teams with as much European pedigree as Wolfsburg. The German side have maybe not been as prolific in recent seasons but there is no doubting the quality of the two-time champions. Stephan Lerch’s side moved one place above United into third with this thrilling victory.
Much has been made of the lack of depth of this United squad. The biggest question in the buildup was whether they could shake off fatigue to find a high level of performance and it came back to haunt them once again as they ran out of steam in the second half.
Marc Skinner did freshen things up with Melvine Malard, Fridolina Rolfö and Simi Awujo all returning. There was a slight surprise that Jess Park found herself on the bench but the 24-year-old has accumulated a lot of minutes recently. Goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel remained in place of Phallon Tullis-Joyce who has a fractured eye socket.
