Brian Sørensen said he feared his Everton side had sustained another serious injury, as they await the outcome of a scan on their ­summer ­signing Inma Gabarro’s knee, after they were beaten narrowly by ­Manchester United in the ­Women’s Super League.

When the Spain midfielder Gabarro went down in agony near the corner flag in the first half, the sudden silence from the crowd said it all. For Sørensen, whose side had learned just a few days earlier that their Italy midfielder Aurora Galli had sustained a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament knee injury, it was the last thing he wanted to see.