Everton Women suffered defeat in their first game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Manchester United coming from behind to secure a 4-1 victory, continuing their unbeaten start.

In the final round of league fixtures before the international break, Everton slipped to 10th in the WSL and are without a win in five since the opening day derby victory at Anfield.

It was a record-breaking attendance for Everton in their historic first outing at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with 18,154 fans turning out on the banks of the Mersey to support the Women’s side.

The opening exchanges saw a flurry of United chances, with Naalsund, Terland, and Rolfo all missing guilt-edge opportunities to put the visitors ahead within the first 10 minutes.

After a quarter of an hour played, Everton breached the WSL’s tightest defence through Honoka Hayashi, who was first to react to a loose second ball in the box and smashed past Phallon Tullis-Joyce from six yards.

The Reds struck back after 62 minutes, with the division’s top scorer Melvine Malard able to convert at the second time of asking, with her initial effort kept out by Emily Ramsey before tapping into an empty net to make it five goals in six games for the French attacker.

Momentum grew for United, with Everton full back Hikaru Kitagawa scooping the ball into her own net following a free kick and some tight pressure from Malard to put the visitors ahead on 70 minutes.

One-time Evertonian Jess Park came off the bench to seal all three points for United, with two quick goals in the final 10 minutes both assisted by Lioness Ella Toone. A wicked deflection steered the ball past the helpless Ramsey before a composed strike from outside the box sealed Everton’s fate.

Park had a chance to make it a quick-fire hat trick, but the England midfielder was unable to connect and spared Brian Sorensen’s side any further blushes.

The game followed a familiar pattern for both sides, with the visitors dominating the ball and Everton providing some determined defending to protect their advantage before Marc Skinner’s side had their quality shine through.

The result continued United’s happy hunting against the Toffees, with 17 meetings resulting in 15 victories for the Reds and zero for Everton.

United climb to second place with their city rivals yet to play, meanwhile Everton must now regroup before a crucial meeting with Aston Villa following the internationals.

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