What Happened: A Manchester Derby for the ages
Flo Lloyd-Hughes takes a look at some of the big stories in women's football and highlights the latest pieces to read on The Cutback

Welcome to the latest edition of What Happened, The Cutback’s weekly newsletter that sums up some of the big stories from the weekend of women’s football.
I’m sure many of you watched last night’s Manchester Derby in the prime chaos Sunday slot of 6.45pm. I think I have mentioned in previous editions that this really is the WSL witching hour and boy was that true last night. Manchester United beat Manchester City 4-2. That’s United’s first win away from home in this derby. More on that below.
It wasn’t just the WSL that had some big games over the weekend, in France, it was a battle of old rivals as PSG hosted Lyon in one of the clashes of the season. Lyon came out on top winning 2-0. We had a guest post from Willa Grefe, who lives in Paris. Check out a summary below or read her full piece.
I’m going to be focusing on the Manchester Derby, arguably the biggest WSL game of the weekend. But I also need to mention a statement 5-0 win for Arsenal at home to Crystal Palace - that was Renee Slegers’ first game as permanent head coach. There was also an emphatic 5-0 victory for Chelsea and a critical 2-1 win for Liverpool over Brighton - just their third win of the season. Both Liverpool and Tottenham had to rely on own goals to get them over the line.
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In today’s issue: Manchester Derby and French rivals.
Derby delight
Sunday night’s derby was an absolute classic. Thank you to everyone who joined us in The Cutback chat. It was really fun to enjoy the chaos with so many readers. We’ll be doing some more chats soon so keep an eye on your inboxes.
I thought this game was going to be 0-0 and how wrong I was.
United started the game aggressively, pressing a terrified looking City. The rewards came early as Ella Toone grabbed the opener in the 14th minute and it was non stop after that.
United charged into a 3-0 lead in the first 36 minutes, thanks to some woeful City defending and a mistake from Khiara Keating, who had a tough night in goal for City. Vivianne Miedema and City’s new defender Rebecca Knaak pulled things back to 3-2 before half time.
There was no great City comeback in the second half though. Another Keating mistake straight from kick off allowed Toone to grab her hat-trick. Those were somehow her first goals in a Manchester derby and the first-ever hat-trick in this rivalry. She deserves all the flowers and was duly celebrated by her teammates and fans after the game.
For United, it was a statement win that was in part gifted to them, but in many ways still reminds the rest of the league that they’re still here and want to be in the title conversation. They’re level on points with Arsenal but third on goal difference.
By comparison, City are left embarrassed on home soil and now well and truly out of the title race as they sit nine points behind Chelsea. It’s back to back defeats in the WSL - the pre-Christmas loss to Everton followed by this. They can lean into the fact they have suffered some tough injuries, but there are so many questions about the lack of depth in this squad and City’s deliberate recruitment strategy of signing very young talent such as Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino, or promoting youngsters to the first team, like Lily Murphy. Yes, Miedema and Jill Roord arrived in the last two years, but both of them have suffered big injuries and set backs. It’s all well and good if you want to blood young talent, but expecting these young players to help you challenge for WSL and cover experienced senior talent is bold.
Get ready to do it all again later this week as United and City face each other in the quarter-final of the Subway Cup on Wednesday night.
The struggle is real for PSG
There was another big rivalry game over the weekend as PSG hosted Lyon in the Première Ligue.
This game is always the pinnacle of any French season as it’s usually a two-horse race for the title. In the end, Lyon cruised to a 2-0 victory and PSG were leapfrogged in the table by their city rivals Paris FC, finishing the weekend in third.
It’s the latest moment in a disappointing season for PSG. They didn’t make it to the group stages of the Women’s Champions League after an embarrassing defeat to Juventus in the qualifying rounds. They’ve dropped points across the domestic season and the vibes in the squad have generally been pretty miserable.
Willa Grefe has the full debrief and story on PSG’s stumbling season so far here.
French football always brings a bit of drama.
Elsewhere….
Matt Dallinson had his say on the reports that Celtic and Rangers had held informal talks about joining the WSL.
We’ll have more analysis of the Manchester derby from Raphael Adelugba and Conner Roberts this week.
That’s it from me today. See you same time next week.
Good article.
Man United must have been licking their lips at not having Shaw, Hemp, Greenwood and Kelly on the team sheets! Yes please!
Man City need the new sporting director role to kick in and shape a more proactive recruitment and retention strategy, and demonstrate the squad handling skill set required to elevate them to the next level. As a fairly new WSL fan and neutral, there does seem to be an iterative process of 'bad kid in the corner' each season that doesn't seem helpful, probably naive but that's my view.
I feel for Keating and wonder if she would be better served on loan in the Championship, really valued, playing in a very competitive league every week, with the opportunity to round out the errors while retaining all the positive aspects her play style brings. The juxtaposition between the keepers was quite stark, United know who is between the sticks every week.
Delighted for Toon, 4 in 2 is a great return to form which will be good for England if she's rejuvenated and back to her best for the summer. I haven't heard any 'Skinner Out' noise for a while, perhaps Ratcliffe has been a welcome distraction!
A fun weekend in the WSL but bar the derby very much a 'business as usual' vibe about the league.