Sporting a bright yellow Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeping kit, hips swaying from side to side, Mary Earps looked up towards Old Traffords Sir Bobby Charlton stand.
Game mode was activated for the return of the Mearps in Wednesdays Champions League tie, the first time she has faced Manchester United since leaving the club in 2024. There was a perfunctory shake of the hands with her former team-mates before a tickle of boos rang round the 14,667 fans at the Theatre of Dreams.
The jeers, accompanied by whistling, became increasingly louder every time Earps touched the ball but not unanimous. Pockets of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand offered applause, trying to drown out the critics. By midway through the first half every time Earps was booed, others cheered.
The division was obvious, but Earps has become a divisive character in recent weeks, thanks to the saga over her recently published autobiography, All In, which has dominated the womens game.
The book, published just seven days ago, caused a furore after she criticised Sarina Wiegmans process to select Hannah Hampton as England No 1. In some of the subsequent interviews in which she defended her comments, Earps became visibly emotional.
It ensured that Earps was the headline act on Wednesday night. Some spectators held placards in support of her, one reading Mary Queen of Stops, while Elloise Walker, wearing a PSG top with Earps name on the back, had come from Leeds just to support the player and not United.
Others were not quite so effusive. Your book is rubbish! yelled one fan, while another chanted about burning both the book and Earps Manchester mural. It was pantomime stuff, even if the saga itself is far more nuanced than that.
PSG manager Paulo Cesar had no doubt Earps was ready to deal with the scrutiny. Nothing has changed in Marys day-to-day, he told reporters in a press conference before the game. The story did not even register in French media but PSG set up Earps with Bodyguard, an application which monitors hate speech on social media and hides toxic comments.
Old Trafford should be a happy place for Earps. It was at here, as a child, that she watched her team Liverpool for the first time. In March 2022 she returned as part of the United team who played the first match in front of fans at the clubs main stadium. That summer, she also began the Lionesses triumphant Euro 2022 campaign at the ground with a 1-0 win against Austria.
United was where she laid her foundations and met the clubs former goalkeeping coach Ian Willcock. Willco, as he is known, believed she could be the worlds best. Earps played every league game for four consecutive seasons at United, won the clubs first major trophy, the 2024 FA Cup, and secured Champions League qualification in 2023.
In her book Earps gives different reasons for why she moved to PSG in the summer of 2024, among them slow contract negotiations, broken promises and craving more anonymity with a life outside of England. She felt United were way off being in contention to win the Champions League by 2024 despite, according to Earps, stating that aim when she joined in 2019. She says she felt wanted and valued at PSG and their facilities were top class.
Ironically, no sooner than Earps joined the French side, PSG failed to make the 2024 Champions League group stages, knocked out by Juventus in the second round of qualifying.
In another world Earps may have been put up for the pre-match press conference to reminisce about her time at United. But she clearly felt she had done enough talking. You imagine all she craved was some normality, routine and focus on football, which for the most part is what this game offered.
In the first half Earps looked steady, authoritatively punching from a cross, but in the 32nd minute she was beaten when Melvine Malard breezed past Griege Mbock and deliciously curled the ball into the corner. The boos notched up a level but by the end of the first half they were tepid and the cheers had subsided, too.
PSG levelled through Olga Carmonas wonder strike in first-half stoppage time, which beat United academy graduate Safia Middleton-Patel. The 21-year-old Earps understudy when she was at United generally excelled in just her second start for the club after being summoned as a late replacement for Earps successor Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who withdrew with a facial injury.
Earps applauded the United fans when she emerged for the second half, a gesture that was reciprocated, but ultimately this was not her night. Fridolina Rolfos 58th-minute header left her helpless and PSG could not muster another response, meaning United recorded their first European win at Old Trafford. All Earps could do was pull up her socks.
This defeat will sting, and not just for personal reasons. PSG hd needed a result at Old Trafford, having lost both of their previous games in the competition against Wolfsburg (4-0) and Real Madrid (2-1). This result leaves them 16th in the table, They had also been thrashed 6-1 by Lyon in the Premiere League, where they are three points off the top of the table. United, in contrast, have secured an impressive maximum nine points in Europe ahead of tough fixtures against Wolfsburg and Lyon.
At the full time whistle, as Glory, glory Man United blared out, Earps took a swig of her water bottle, picked up her towel and shook hands with United manager Marc Skinner. She spent time talking to and hugging several of her former team-mates including captain Maya Le Tissier and good friend Ella Toone.
Visibly moved, she embraced her PSG goalkeeping coach Mickael Grondin before clapping and waving to spectators. Those who had stayed gave her a warm reception, and there was even time for a few selfies.
There were no boos then, but Wednesday proved that Earps may continue to be a divisive presence at her old club for some time to come.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Manchester United, England, Champions League, Women’s Soccer
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