Eva Olid had been waiting since August for a win. She got one on Wednesday night, and then some. Manchester United put 10 past Sheffield United in the Subway Players Cup, a result that will do nothing for the head coach's sense of proportion about where her side actually stands but will do plenty for the mood around the squad.
Captain Maya le Tissier opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half, and after that the floodgates gave way. Wales forward Mared Griffiths finished with a hat-trick, Germany's Lea Schuller scored twice and summer signing Rebeca Bernal also got a pair. Ella Toone and Jess Simpson added the others. Amy Andrews pulled one back for the Blades, who sit bottom of WSL 2.
A first win that had been a long time coming
United arrived at the game having finally picked up a point in the Women's Super League at Arsenal on Saturday. Before that, Olid's start had been bruising: a defeat to London City Lionesses in the opener and a 5-0 hammering by Chelsea. It was also United's first victory of any kind since March, a run that had begun to weigh on a club used to competing near the top of the table.
Sheffield United were never likely to be the sternest examination. But the manner of it, and the spread of scorers across the team, gave Olid something concrete to point to after an opening month in which almost nothing had gone right.
What the coach took from it
"It's so important, our first win together," Olid said afterwards. "Having the possession and creating chances, it was a good match to keep building what we want to build in attack, and keep working on the identity we want to create in attack."
That word, identity, is the one that matters. Olid has been in the job since August and has spent most of it defending, reorganising and explaining. A night in which her forwards took nearly every chance offered to them is the first evidence that the attacking pattern she wants is starting to appear, even against opposition two divisions adrift of the standard she will face on Sunday.
The real tests start again this weekend
United host West Ham in the WSL on Sunday at 13:00 BST, then travel to Durham on 30 September for their next Players Cup fixture in the league phase. The West Ham game is the one that will tell us whether Wednesday meant anything. A side sitting on a single league point cannot afford to treat a cup rout as a turning point until the same players do something comparable against a top-flight opponent.
Still, Griffiths has a hat-trick to her name, Bernal has opened her account in doubles and Schuller has two more goals in the bank. For a squad that had gone six months without a win, those are not small things.
Match facts: Manchester United 10-1 Sheffield United, Subway Players Cup, Wednesday 23 September 2026. United scorers: Maya le Tissier (pen), Mared Griffiths (3), Lea Schuller (2), Rebeca Bernal (2), Ella Toone, Jess Simpson. Sheffield United: Amy Andrews. It was head coach Eva Olid's first win since taking charge in August and United's first victory since March. United host West Ham in the WSL on Sunday (13:00 BST) and visit Durham on 30 September (19:00 BST).
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