Rolfö heads Manchester United winner against PSG to ruin Earps’ Old Trafford return | OneFootball

Mary Earps received the boos she feared on her return to Manchester United, 501 days after leaving, then departed defeated. Marc ­Skinner’s team cuffed aside Paris Saint-­Germain courtesy of Fridolina Rolfö’s expert second-half header.

When jogging out for the ­warmup Earps was cheered, but when the crowd swelled for kick-off the jeers came, though for a player whose CV shows nine clubs, 52 England caps, and a Euro 2022 winner’s medal, this felt water off the proverbial for her.

Skinner said: “I said to her at the end: ‘Look after yourself.’ She’s an intelligent person – she understands the world she’s in.”

United’s manager should be enthused by how his team soaked up pressure at the start of each half, took the lead through Melvine Malard, then responded to Olga Carmona’s equaliser with Rolfo’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 rewarded the Chelsea goalkeeper’s previous “bad behaviour” with England.

PSG’s start was the antithesis of their dire European form – they had lost their first two matches – as Echegini’s near-miss was followed by knitted play that twice put Rasheedat Ajibade in along the right flank.

The jeers for Earps became muted and you wondered if they were fuelled by pro-Hampton ­sympathisers or United partisans chagrined at Earps having the temerity to leave in the summer of 2024. Skinner said: “It might be [the Hampton-England issue], might be a bit of a returning ex-United player, but I’m pleased she got the reception at the end.”

United made their bow in ­European competition at the club’s storied home having lost 1-0 at Aston Villa on Saturday in the Women’s Super League, but with a perfect six points in the competition after beating ­Atlético Madrid and Valerenga.

Skinner’s five changes from that defeat included dropping Ella Toone and the top scorer, Elisabeth Terland, to the bench, while injury meant Phallon Tullis-Joyce, United’s No 1, was not in the squad.

A punch-out of a steepling Jayde Riviere ball was Earps’s first act; it came just before the half-hour, an indicator of the mundane fare the crowd of about 15,000 consumed. But soon Earps was beaten.Riviere’s sweeping ball along the right was taken on by Malard. The striker ­bundled aside Griedge Mbock Bathy and zigzagged for goal; the shot flew past Earps – whose dive seemed low – and into the far-left corner.

This boosted the home fans and the next round of boos aimed at Earps were enthusiastic, though it felt more pantomime stuff than vindictive. More potent was the Ajibade corkscrewed cross that had Middleton-Patel scrambling to jab on to her bar, before a 20-yard Carmona shot smacked the top-left corner of the net.

They came close to the lead moments after the second-half whistle, as Anaïs Ebayilin’s effort ­mirrored the start of the match: again it hit the left post, but this time ­Middleton-Patel pushed the ball there.

Carmona’s next contribution was to bounce a 40-yard pass in front of Echeguni whose run was foiled by United’s alert goalkeeper. Far simpler was Earps clutching an insipid Anna Sandberg free-kick that United’s left-back floated straight into the gloves and far better was what Sandberg did next: slick Jess Park footwork was followed by the midfielder feeding Sandberg whose cross from the left was pinpoint for Rolfö: the Swede’s header gave Earps no chance.

Advantage United who soon had Malard running in from the right, shooting and drawing a fine save from Earps, low to her left.

Skinner introduced Toone, Terland and Leah Galton for a final phase in which United, again, resisted PSG: so, a job well done for those in red, making it a losing return for Earps, the woman of the moment.

As Skinner said, this will all “blow over” soon for her due to the ever-fast-moving news cycle. Unless, of course, Earps comes up against Hampton on a football field.

Header image: [Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA]