Turner heats up title rivals Manchester United with late winner against Aston Villa
MILLIE TURNER hailed Manchester United’s change of mindset after their last-ditch effort prevented Aston Villa from spoiling their title charge.
The defender’s death goal helped the Red Devils to a 3-2 away win, with Rachel Daly scoring twice in the five-goal thriller.
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It was a moment reminiscent of the Arsenal defeat last November as Alessia Russo sealed a 3-2 victory in added time.
The result saw United seven points ahead of holders Chelsea and six ahead of Man City in a hard-fought title fight.
But the Blues could reduce their lead to four points while they have two games in hand should they beat Liverpool on Wednesday.
However, Turner believes calm within the Red Devils’ ranks could be key in their hunt for a historic first WSL title.
The centre-back told BBC Sport: “We’ve only had a switch mentality since the Arsenal game in the Emirates.
“We know we can win games and we know we can win any game.
“I think that’s so important in the dressing room and we came here believing every single minute that we could win this game and we did.
“We just have to stay calm and take each game as it comes. We’re trying to play well and see where that can take us.”
United recorded their 15th win in 19 league games and have yet to lose a WSL away game this season.
Red Devils boss Marc Skinner, whose side play Tottenham next, added: “We weren’t good enough in the first half.
“We didn’t up the intensity and Villa was all over us. We played into their hands, we tried to play a style of football rather than the game itself.
“We addressed that in the second half, Villa were excellent but with this team we find a way and we found a way again.”
Before the game, Skinner spoke of the need for his side to stop their rivals’ “free-flowing” play as Villa had scored three goals in their last game.
And the visitors got off to a decent start with Katie Zelem missing the shot.
But the hosts started upping their game in attack and Daly wanted to deliver.
The forward put her side ahead in the ninth minute with a classic set piece following Lucy Staniforth’s spot-on corner kick.
But United equalized moments later when Leah Galton turned the ball home from Ona Batlle’s curved delivery.
Hannah Hampton denied the visitors a lead in the 32nd minute by parrying Galton’s shot from the danger zone
And the score stayed 1-1 until Daly put Carla Ward’s side back in front just before half-time
Her stunning finish saw her join Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw as the WSL’s top scorer on 17 goals
In the second half, Daly came close to a hat-trick when the striker hit the wood after a pass from Kenza Dali into the box.
But United immediately hit back through Nikita Parris
The forward scored her third WSL goal of the season when she headed past Hampton from a Hannah Blundell cross.
Ella Toone almost netted late with her wild drive and forced another Hampton stop in style.
And team-mate Turner, who came on as a substitute in the 87th minute, sealed United’s victory after they won an injury-time free-kick.
She scored a dramatic injury-time header after Katie Zelem’s inch-perfect delivery.
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Villa boss Carla Ward said: “I feel like we deserved something from the game.
“We’ve had a couple of occasions where we’ve hit the bar, we’ve done incredibly well.
“Thanks to Manchester United, they’re at the top of the league for a reason, but it’s disgusting.
“We’re disappointed tonight because we didn’t go home with anything when we should have gotten at least a point.”