Manchester United manager Marc Skinner slams second-half collapse in Women's FA Cup derby defeat to Man City

Manchester United manager Marc Skinner believes his players let their standards slip against Manchester City as they suffered a 4-1 defeat in the Women's FA Cup on Sunday.

After City edged a Women's Super League derby a fortnight ago, United were handed the opportunity to make amends and put in a much-improved performance in a cup tie on home soil.

Skinner said his side weren't aggressive enough in individual battles in their defeat at the Academy Stadium, and it looked as though they took that instruction on board with an impressive first 45 minutes at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday. United were in control and took the lead through Katie Zelem, who scored straight from a corner.

However, two half-time changes from City changed the game, and Lauren Hemp equalised five minutes into the second half. Then, United threw the tie away with three defensive mistakes to gift City passage into the quarter-finals.

"There are ingredients to win football games. Winning one vs one duels is one of them," Skinner rued after the game.

"In the first half we did it, in the second half we didn't. We weren't physical enough in the second half. We conceded goals we wouldn't be happy with. That's the game, it's about winning duels to be successful.

"It didn't feel like us, I won't make excuses, I'll always support my players. As a group, we cannot have the standard drop from the first half to the second. The goals aren't good enough against us. We've got to stop them, we're in good positions to stop them. We jumped out of the way of things and we won't do that going forward."

Asked whether back-to-back derby defeats show United still have work to do to match rivals City, Skinner said: "The reality versus how we see it anyway is always a