Alessia Russo: ‘To be a United fan and play at the Theatre of Dreams was amazing’

“To be honest, I don’t normally celebrate goals,” says Alessia Russo. However after the Manchester United forward sent a looping header over Sandy MacIver to draw her team level against Everton at the end of March, the 23-year-old clenched her fists and yelled in delight as teammate Martha Thomas leapt into her arms. It was an uncharacteristic celebration and in many ways she looked like she didn’t know what to do, but the occasion warranted one.

Russo, a lifelong United supporter, had scored at Old Trafford in front of 20,241 fans, including her family and friends. She went on to score a second to give United a 3-1 victory that would keep them three points clear of Manchester City and their race for the Champions League alive. City have a game in hand though.

“It was a really special occasion,” she says. “The whole day really, from the minute we got there until I left and drove home. To be a United fan and to play at the Theatre of Dreams was amazing. And to have all my friends and family there and to have the fans there – I think we’ve owed it to them to play there and put on a performance for them.”

United showed resilience that day. In the previous game, they had conceded late to West Ham to draw 1-1 and after Claire Emslie’s fourth minute opener for Everton at Old Trafford they could have have crumbled. But they didn’t.

You stay calm in that moment, Russo says, because “as players we all know that when you play any team in this league there’s no easy game. Everton maybe aren’t sitting where they want to be in the league, but they still have such quality players and I think we always knew that they could pose a threat.

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