“We’re surrounded by good vibes here,” Melvine Malard gushes as Manchester United women’s new number nine reflects on her first few weeks at the club.

The French striker has had a blistering start to the season, coming off the bench twice to rescue a result for the Reds.

She made history by scoring in the club’s first ever Champions League match against PSG earlier this month and she has become somewhat of a favourite amongst the fans.

Speaking to the club on her episode of TeamViewer’s Player Diaries, she said: “I’ve really hit the ground running in Manchester, which I’m very proud of.”

She attributed her strong start to the support of her teammates. “That’s partly down to my team-mates who helped me to put in the performances that I did in the first games, and it’s also partly down to the fans who give us a great atmosphere and a lot of love.”

After scoring her third goal in just five matches against Everton, Malard raced towards the Manchester United Women’s Supporters Club to high-five the fans.

“I really like it here, the people here are really cool,” she continued. “They’re smiley and super positive, so I like it here a lot.”

She heaped praise on United women captain Katie Zelem in particular. “My teammates talk to me a lot and the captain [Katie Zelem] really is behind me.

“If I need anything, she’s always there to help me. Not in French, but I’m adapting! Everyone’s involved though, and you can’t ask for more than that.”

Malard joined the club on loan from Lyon at the end of the summer transfer window.

United fans will be hoping the club can find a way to hold on to the 23-year-old striker long term as she has already become an integral part of Marc Skinner’s side.

Following the international break, United Women will return to action away at Brighton on Sunday 5 November.

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In action for the England Lionesses, who face Belgium tonight, is shot-stopper Mary Earps, who was instrumental in the Reds 5-0 thrashing of Everton last weekend.

Ella Toone, one of the most popular players amongst England and United fans, has also been called up for England’s crucial matches against Belgium.

Captain Katie Zelem and Maya Le Tissier are also in the squad alongside Grace Clinton, who is currently on loan at Tottenham Hotspur.

England face Belgium at home tonight before travelling to face them away next Tuesday.

They need a good win tonight as they currently sit in third in their group behind tonight’s opponents and the Netherlands, who beat them last time out.

A place in the Olympics next year is riding on progression out of the group.

Meanwhile, three United women have been called up for Wales, their young goalkeeper, Safia Middleton-Patel, midfield maestro Hayley Ladd and defender Gemma Evans.

Wales are in action against European runners up, Germany, tonight.

They are currently bottom of their group with no points on the board so far.

One of United’s star signings this summer, Geyse, has been called up for Brazil, who take on Canada tomorrow.

She will come up against her United teammate Jayde Riviere, who will play in defence for Canada.

Lucia Garcia will meet up with former teammate Ona Batlle as Spain take on Italy this evening in their Nations League clash.

The World Champions are currently top of their group having played two and won two.

Meanwhile, Norway take on France in group A2 and Lisa Naalsund will be a part of their squad.

They have drawn one and lost one so far with tonight’s opponents leading that group.

Hinata Miyazawa has been called up for training with Japan after a bright start to her season in the WSL.

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Manchester United Women dedicated their 5-0 thrashing of Everton to Sir Bobby Charlton after the club legend passed away on Saturday.

Ahead of kick-off, both teams paid their respects to the late, great Busby Babe as captain Katie Zelem laid a wreath in the centre of the pitch before a minute’s silence.

Speaking to MUTV following the victory, manager Marc Skinner spoke of Charlton’s influence and importance to the club, saying:

“We have dedicated that performance to Sir Bobby, to Lady Norma [Sir Bobby’s wife] and to the family.”

He continued: “He changed football in my opinion and especially at our club.

“For us, every inch of that performance was for him, his family, and that was so important to us.”

Zelem also spoke to club media saying, “He touched so many people’s hearts, he was a real club legend. We had that in our minds going into the game so that performance was for him.”

Taking to social media following their emphatic win, a number of Skinner’s players also paid their respects to Charlton.

Irene Guerrero, who came on as a substitute, took to instagram and said: “Happy with the debut defending United and helping the team in the victory dedicated to Sir Bobby Charlton.”

Defender Maya Le Tissier posted, “Dedicated our win and our performance to Sir Bobby.”

Meanwhile, player of the match, Jayde Riviere said: “What a performance by this team! Today we played for Sir Bobby.”

A number of the players departed on international duty yesterday and the Lionesses held a minutes silence and laid a wreath at the training ground, such was Sir Bobby’s impact across the country, across the generations and across the sport.

A book of condolences has been opened at Old Trafford and people have been paying their respects, leaving tributes at the foot of the Trinity statue outside the ground.

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A number of Manchester United players have been in action for their countries in the Women’s Nations League this past week.

Maya Le Tissier, Katie Zelem, Ella Toone and Mary Earps were all called up for the England Lionesses, who had a mixed start to their campaign.

They faced Scotland in their opening game, and beat their old rivals 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.

Zelem played a lovely long ball to pick out Lucy Bronze for England’s opening goal before Lauren Hemp doubled their lead.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United star, Kirsty Hanson gave Scotland hope in stoppage time at the end of the first half as she pulled one back.

On their second outing, the Lionesses battled against Sarina Wiegman’s former team, the Netherlands.

This time, the Lionesses were on the wrong end of a 2-1 score line in Utrecht.

As the visitors tried to play out from the back, the Netherlands pressed well and intercepted in the final third.

Though it looked like Van de Donk received the ball in an offside position the flag stayed down as she played it back to Martens who looped it over the retreating Earps.

It was just what the hosts deserved who had been the better side for the opening 35 minutes.

It woke England up who responded by hitting the woodwork.

In the second half the reigning European Champions found a way back as another former United player, Alessia Russo found the back of the net.

It was England who had the better chances after that but the Dutch keeper, Daphne van Domselaar, who has just signed for Aston Villa, pulled off some impressive saves to deny the Lionesses.

It was the hosts who snatched the tie in the dying moments of the game as Greenwood gave the ball away in the centre of the pitch.

Jansen made a good run and smashed it into the top corner.

Elsewhere, United’s new signing Gemma Evans and Hayley Ladd were part of the Wales squad who suffered a 5-1 defeat to Denmark in Cardiff.

They also suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Iceland last Friday in their Nations League group game.

It was better news for Spain who beat Sweden 3-2 last week in a thrilling match up.

They then smashed five past Switzerland with United’s Lucia Garcia getting on the scoresheet.

It will be a quick turnaround for the international Reds as the domestic season kicks off on Sunday, when United will travel to Villa for their opening WSL game.

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Manchester United’s Lionesses received a hero’s welcome as they returned to Carrington yesterday.

The trio made up of Katie Zelem, Ella Toone and Mary Earps were given a guard of honour by their teammates and presented with a bouquet of flowers each as they reunited with the squad.

They had little time to reacquaint themselves as they immediately hopped on a flight to Germany for a pre-season training camp.

Upon their arrival, they prepared for the trip to Germany with a gym session followed by training on the pitches before departing for the airport.

The group will spend the week at the Adidas campus in Herzogenaurach and face Bayern there on Wednesday.

The match will be United’s third pre-season game following a 2-2 draw with Leicester and a 1-0 win over Everton in the last few weeks.

This week will see them undergo a series of sessions at Herzogenaurach as well as having some downtime including bowling and meals out.

Our squad for Germany includes summer signings such as Geyse, Gemma Evans, Evie Rabjohn and Emma Watson.

The return of our three Lionesses means the entire squad is back together for the first time since the end of last season.

Also included are youngsters Alyssa Aherne and Safia Middleton-Patel.

Meanwhile, Earps is still at the centre of a bidding war as United look to extend her contract whilst Arsenal prepare to launch a fresh bid for the England shot-stopper.

United will be keen to secure her signature before the season begins on October 1st.

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Manchester United players, Ella Toone, Mary Earps and Katie Zelem will come face to face with former teammate Ona Batlle in the World Cup Final on Sunday.

Talking to the press, Batlle confirmed that she had been in touch with the three girls as well as former United striker Alessia Russo after they beat Australia in the semi-final.

“I sent a message to them,” she smiled, “I said congrats and I said I wanted to see them there.”

She expanded further on their relationship and what it means that they all made the final, “It’s beautiful because we’ve shared three years together and now we’re going to share a World Cup final together.”

Batlle confirmed that Spain have a fully fit squad ahead of the grand finale of what has been an exciting tournament.

Spain have had their troubles in the lead-up to the competition with 15 players refusing to play under Jorge Vilde.

Three of those returned to the side ahead of the World Cup but their troubles off the pitch don’t seem to have affected their performance much.

They have put in convincing performances throughout, except for their shock 4-0 defeat to Japan in the group stages.

A number of their starting XI play for Barcelona who won the Champions League and Liga F last season.

Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze also play for Barcelona so both teams will know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Batlle continued, “We know that they have a really good team and they’ve been doing good so I think it will be a really good game, it will be tough to play.”

The two teams will face each other at 11 am BST at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.

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Manchester United’s Ella Toone and Katie Zelem have stolen some moments to relax this week, creating their own Lionesses’ diaries ahead of their big showdown with Australia in the World Cup semi-final.

The pair laughed and joked about their time down under and who was better at running tours of the host country.

“Zel’s tours, I’ve been on three now,” said Toone. “I’ve been on one on the Sunshine Coast, one in Brisbane and one in Sydney. She’s not let us down, she’s been on it, to be fair.”

She continued, “There’s no competition between Tooney’s tours and Zel’s tours. I’m going on Zel’s tour any day of the week because she’s so organised. I haven’t had to plan a thing. I’ve turned up and she’s got it all on her maps. Location A to B to C to D. We see everything.”

Comparing to her own, Toone said, “You’d have the bants if you were on mine but I wouldn’t have a clue where we are going or what we are doing. If you [want to be] organised and see everything in Sydney in an hour, then I’d book on Zel’s.”

A special quarter-final atmosphere, sightseeing dolphins and Zel's tours

Enjoy @ellatoone99's Diary Room… pic.twitter.com/kOEUyPOcdH

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) August 13, 2023

The United captain responded to the claims in her own video, agreeing with her teammate, “I would say organised for me and banter for Tooney is definitely right.”

Zel's tours
Stadium polaroids
FOMO from Tooney's pre-match pic @katiezelem joins us in the Diary Room… pic.twitter.com/Ng4vnBPl6A

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) August 14, 2023

Earlier in the tournament, it was revealed that Zelem had become the squad’s DJ.

Zelem stepped up to the plate in the Lionesses’ dismantling of China in their final group game after Keira Walsh was ruled out with injury.

Meanwhile, Toone has featured throughout the tournament, including in the hard-fought quarter-final victory against Colombia.

“[It was] an amazing game. The Colombian fans were there, loud and proud,” she said.

“[It] definitely felt like an away game for us but we didn’t let that faze use at all. They made it difficult for us in the last 10 minutes but we got over the line and found a way to win.”

Three reds could feature for England with United shot-stopper Mary Earps also having been one of the European Champions best players so far this tournament.

Should the Lionesses beat Australia, they will face Spain in the final on Sunday.

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Manchester United were due to make a decision over Mason Greenwood’s future before the start of the Premier League season.

At the time of writing, that deadline is seven hours away, or seven hours and three days if you were to consider The Red Devils’ clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers to be the true start oof the campaign.

Whichever way you slice it, however, the result is the same, according to Jamie Jackson of The Guardian. That is because Man United have decided to kick the can down the road once more.

Worse still is the excuse for doing so. According to Jackson, the club are pointing to the participation of five of their female players in the latter stages of the Women’s World Cup.

Mary Earps, Ella Toone and Katie Zelem of England will be part of tomorrow’s action in the Quarter finals.

The line is that United want these players to be part of the decision-making process that will determine the ultimate outcome regarding Mason Greenwood’s future.

But it certainly leaves a sour taste in the mouth the blame members of the Women’s team for delays over resolving their investigation into a man whose past actions will see a banner with the following text unfurled on Monday:

“Female Fans Demand No Greenwood Return – End Violence Against Women.”

Following his arrest in January 2022 for charges of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, the club have supposedly been conducting an internal investigation into the matter.

While it is fair enough for the club executives to favour “making the correct decision” over an “arbitrary deadline,” the suggestion that there was no opportunity to consult the women’s team between February – when charges were dropped – and late July, when the World Cup began, is ludicrous.

If the club executives did not think to approach the women’s team during that five-month period, it seems highly unlikely that they will afford much weight to their opinions either.

It appears an utterly classless move from the club, and one that will win them little love from its own fanbase.

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Three Manchester United players remain at the Women’s World Cup after Vilde Boe Risa’s Norway depart and England scrape through on penalties.

Most were confident heading into the match that England could get the job done against Nigeria in 90 minutes but it wasn’t to be.

A changed starting line up from the 6-1 dismantling of China saw the Lionesses revert back to their old formation with Katie Zelem and Ella Toone both taking a seat on the bench.

Earps had a good game. She was called into action more than England had likely planned for.

In the first half, Nigeria were the more dominant side and only the crossbar and the strong hands of Earps kept the score at 0-0.

A penalty for England after Rachel Daly was pushed over in a free kick was overturned by VAR.

Again, in the second half, some big saves from Earps kept the scores level and at the other end, chances for ex-United stars Lauren James and Alessia Russo went begging.

Daly also had a chance or two but was denied by the Nigerian keeper. The better opportunities were still falling for the African side.

As extra-time loomed, James, who had been marked out of this game, saw red. Frustration got the better of her and she stood deliberately on a Nigerian player as she got to her feet.

It was a moment that was compared to David Beckham’s sending off in the 98 World Cup.

The initial on-field decision was a yellow card but VAR called the ref over to the monitor and James was shown a deserved straight red.

Katie Zelem was brought on just to take a penalty in her first major tournament and with only one game under her belt. Wiegman showed faith in her by putting her on in that high pressured moment. However, it didn’t come down to that.

Mary Earps had saved England in a shootout before against Brazil in the finalissima but with Georgia Stanway missing England’s first, the United shot-stopper was up against it.

She guessed the right way but she didn’t need to – Oparanozie shot wide.

Beth England blasted England’s second penalty into the back of the net whilst Alozie’s was again off target.

England were in control but they had to keep their cool. Luckily they held their nerve as Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly all converted their spot kicks.

You could see the relief on the England players faces. They didn’t deserve to win that game but that’s football.

Even though Earps didn’t save a penalty, her presence in goal was enough to distract two of the shooters and she was close to saving one of the others too. She will have taken a lot of confidence from that performance.

The Lionesses will play in the quarter-finals on Saturday 11am BST.

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Three Manchester United players were in action today as England beat China 6-1 in the final group game of the Women’s World Cup.

Katie Zelem made her major tournament debut as she entered the starting line up for the injured Keira Walsh.

Though she didn’t get an assist or a goal it couldn’t have gone any better for the United skipper.

She finished the game with an 88% pass accuracy, 100% accuracy with her long ball deliveries and winning two thirds of her aerial and ground duels.

The Oldham-born midfielder was praised throughout by commentator and Chelsea manager Emma Hayes for her calmness in that position and strong link up play.

She was also vital in set-piece deliveries, sharing the load with former United teammate Alex Greenwood.

Former Red, Alessia Russo opened the scoring for the Lionesses in the fourth minute, controlling the ball well in the area before slotting it past Zhu.

Another ex-United player, Lauren James, put in a player-of-the-match performance scoring two sublime goals, with a third being ruled out by VAR and getting a hat-trick of assists.

Earps was first called into action in the 53rd minute when a long range shot came in from China that was creeping into the bottom corner.

Earps got down low to push it wide for a corner. The delivery came in and was deemed to be a hand ball by Lucy Bronze, a lengthy VAR check awarded China a lifeline in the form of a penalty.

Earps, who had had little to do, couldn’t save the penalty and it was 3-1.

She would show why she is the best in the world later on though as she pulled off a lovely diving save to her left to deny China a second goal creeping into the bottom corner.

England went on to score a number of fantastic, technically perfect goals with Daly finishing things off by latching on to a cross from Coombs, volleying it past Zhu.

Toone was dropped from the starting line up but entered the fray after 81 minutes, playing with hunger and confidence in the closing stages of a superb match.

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