Man Utd news: Boss praises ‘brilliant’ Alessia Russo and claims best is yet come for United

Manchester United Women boss Marc Skinner warned his side still have levels to hit as he threw down the gauntlet to their WSL rivals.

A dominant United ran out comfortable 5-0 winners over Aston Villa in front of over 30,000 fans yesterday thanks to strikes from Katie Zelem, Leah Galton, Alessia Russo, Ona Batlle and Rachel Williams.

However, despite the impressive display, Skinner claimed their best is yet to come.

• Man Utd 5-0 Aston Villa: Player ratings as United thrash WSL rivals - including Katie Zelem, Alessia Russo

“We are setting our standards that high that actually there were times in this game where I felt we could have been more clinical” he said.

“At half time - and there’s always context - but if you’re working on the line of super happy to terrible, we were about half way - we want more for ourselves and that’s a great sign for us”.

“The third goal is what we want. That movement, the play and composure, the manipulation of the opponent. That is what we want as a group”.

Lionesses forward Alessia Russo was once again a stand out performer, grabbing her third goal in as many games and Skinner reserved special praise the 23-year-old forward.

“She’s brilliant, there’s lot of qualities that she has. Alessia links our play, she can finish in the box and she has a variance of heading and finishing abilties. She’s a great, great player.

“For us she had to link the play today because the pitch is massive. It is very hard to have straight lines in football so you have to make sure you bend them and mix them so that you have connected lines - and we are better when we are connected”.

The win, which saw the club break their attendance record, moved United into second place on goal difference and just three points behind leaders Chelsea - with the Red Devil’s still to play their game in hand.

“It’s a wonderful occasion, we love to perform in front of our fans but it’s a great sign that we want more from our performance.

“My job is to set the bar high, and also to not scold anybody for not achieving that, but to keep that balance. These are our parameters and what we are expecting of ourselves”.

Manchester United will switch focus to the Continental Cup this Wednesday as they face Brian Sorensen’s Everton side at Leigh Sports Village on Wednesday evening.