United’s grit clear despite cup elimination

United's FA Cup run ended in extra time at Chelsea, but Tullis-Joyce's heroics and the squad's fighting spirit offer hope ahead of a crucial run of fixtures

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On Sunday, Manchester United saw their first loss of 2026, confirming their exit from the FA Cup after an extra-time defeat to Chelsea at Kingsmeadow. Hopes for United looked slim when Sam Kerr scored the opening goal for Chelsea 10 minutes from the end of normal time, but a few minutes later Simi Awujo managed to scramble one home to take the tie to extra time.

After chances for both teams, it was Chelsea who retook the lead, with Naomi Girma getting on the end of the rebound from a brilliant Phallon Tullis-Joyce save. United have reached the last three FA Cup finals; however, it wasn’t meant to be this season. Another defeat to Chelsea makes for grim reading on the head-to-head between the sides, but there were positives Marc Skinner and his squad can take away from this game. I’ll dive into a couple of them in this piece.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce

One of the biggest factors in United staying in the game as long as they did was the brilliance of Tullis-Joyce. She made five saves, though that number alone doesn’t tell the full story.

The first big save came from an Erin Cuthbert effort just inside the box. A diving save to her right pushed the ball out for a corner. With the shot going through three players, Tullis-Joyce had to react late, but she was fast enough to get hands to it and turn it past the post. The second denied Lauren James, who was through on goal with only the keeper to beat. Tullis-Joyce stood her ground well – not rushing out, but not hanging back either – and stuck out a brilliant left hand to stop the shot hitting the back of the net.

Having a keeper of this quality breathes confidence into the outfield players. A quality goalkeeper can be the difference maker in games like these, and undoubtedly her saves gave United a fighting chance. The dynamic of the game changes completely if United go in at half time 2-0 down.

Fighting for each other

The mentality of this United side is one of its key strengths, and it was on display again here. Every player worked hard, fought for each other and never gave in until the final whistle.

United won more duels than Chelsea in this game: 63% to 37% of ground duels and 51% to 49% of aerial duels. Melvine Malard won the most duels in the match (16), and her work rate on the left didn’t go unnoticed, offering a threat going forward while also tracking back to provide defensive contributions – three tackles, three clearances and three interceptions in front of left-back Dominique Janssen.

Having played just three days earlier, the United players looked like they left everything out there on the pitch. There was real grit to the performance.

Attacking breakdown

An area that likely proved costly to United was decision-making in front of goal. They certainly missed the attacking output of their usual starting full-backs, Jayde Riviere and Anna Sandberg. This was felt particularly on the left flank, where Malard was left to take on a couple of players on her own, with Janssen providing more of a defensive cover role.

While Chelsea had more possession (63% to 37%), United did get into threatening areas, particularly in the second half. Opportunities fell to multiple players, but the best chances fell to Malard, Jess Park, Ellen Wangerheim and Lisa Naalsund, all potentially choosing the wrong option in front of goal.

One example: in the second half, Park struck the post from distance. It was well hit, and given the form Park is in, it’s hard to argue with her going for goal from there. But look at Wangerheim’s position – a pass played through puts her through on goal in a better scoring position.

There were a couple of chances in the first half, created well by the likes of Malard and Park. However, when the ball reached the final third, the wrong decision was often made where a cross would have been the better option, or taking the shot on rather than taking extra touches, something Chelsea weren’t afraid of doing throughout the game.

Focus on the league

With United now out of the FA Cup, it does shift the focus back to the WSL and a top-three finish, which feels crucial to the success of the season. United have faced Chelsea twice this season, drawing once in the league and losing the cup game, with two more meetings still to come – including the League Cup Final, which is the first fixture after the international break.

United go into the next block of games facing six fixtures in 17 days, a really tough task across all three remaining competitions that will test the fitness of the squad. However, seeing the fight shown after a busy couple of weeks, they can go into that run with the confidence and belief of the players around them, knowing everyone will fight until the end.