It has not been a smooth transition for London City Lionesses since Maestre took over from former boss Precheur, with one win in his first five WSL matches.

But there have been signs of the types of performances he hopes to mastermind on a regular basis and a clear desire for his team to play more aggressively.

It did not take long for London City to show this at Leigh Sports Village as they brought energy and intensity from the first minute, causing United all kinds of problems in a strong first-half display.

Godfrey was excellent and their standout performer once again as she drove at United’s defence and teed up Parris with a perfectly weighted cross.

She could have got on the scoresheet herself on several occasions, drawing saves from goalkeeper Tullis-Joyce and striking wide from the edge of the box.

But as she tailed off in the second half, so did London City as a team and they began to lose control of the game, allowing United back into it.

London City knew they had firepower to come off the bench with Kosovare Asllani and Izzy Goodwin still to be introduced but they did not have the desired effect.

However, Goodwin almost grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser when she flicked a header just wide of the post and there were cheers of relief when the full-time whistle went from United fans.

It was another performance which promised more than it delivered for the visitors but will provide hope for London City Lionesses fans going forward.

“I’m happy because of the performance. We played a very good game against one of the best teams, not just in this competition, but in Europe,” said Maestre.

“When you face a team like Manchester United you need to be aware of the quality they have.

“Two shots on target and two goals. When you see the stats, you can see it’s very painful. How many times can Jess Park do that and score?

“It’s unlucky for us that it was one [shot] and it went in. I’m very proud of the team and the players. I really think they deserved more.”