After their shocking 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Emirates on Match Day 1, Arsenal Women had to bounce back from that on Match Day 2 when they played away to Manchester United.
Manchester United Women were no doubt going to be tough to crack. And on Friday night, even though our girls tried their best, we only managed to pick up a point from them as we drew the game 2-2.
Picking a point from one of our main rivals isn’t a bad thing, considering last season the Red Devils beat our Gunners home and away.
We scored our first goal of the game from a counterattack. Alessia Russo picked up the ball in our half and turned well, unlocking Steph Catley on the left before the fullback set up Stina Blackstenius for the goal in the 14th minute. Man United’s Leah Galton equalized about 10 minutes later, after a real faux pas by Arsenal goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo.
Arsenal Women dominated after that, with Steph Catley forcing a good save from Mary Earps, Lia Walti playing a great ball across the United goal for a tap-in, and Russo forcing her international teammate, Earps, to make great saves. Even so, we didn’t get anything until Melvine Mallard gave United the lead in the 81st minute, after which we had no choice but to look for an equalizer to avoid a fourth consecutive WSL loss.
Fortunately, Cloe Lacasse, who Arsenal signed for her brilliance in front of the goal, got Arsenal the equalizer and her debut goal. She produced a fantastic strike that soared into the top left corner and earned us a point at the death. The result is a positive one; it should give us hope of turning things around. Our title hopes are still high, particularly as Man City v Chelsea yesterday ended in a 1-1 draw in a match that saw a record 10 yellow cards issued by the ref, resulting in red’s for Alex Greenwood & Lauren Hemp, reducing Man City to 9 players..
Anyway, one may ask: What really helped us prevent another loss was considering what a threat Manchester United could be. Jonas Eidevall listening to concern, taking advantage of his quality squad, and making changes to his starting 11 were key to everything good our Gunners did on Friday night. Our women’s boss is still yet to find his best starting 11 with the quality he possesses in his squad; he’s still trying to find balance.
For the United game, there were six notable changes in the line-up we used against Liverpool, which helped us manage to pick up a crucial point that we can use to turn around our fortunes this season. Eidevall dropped Manuel Zinsberger for Sabrina D’Angelo who, in my opinion, didn’t have her best game. He also unleashed a new-look defense of Amanda Ilestedt, Jen Bettie, and Laia Codina after criticism that Liverpool’s goal could have been well-defended. Stina Blackstenius, Noelle Maritz, and Victoria Pelova also reclaimed their spots in the starting lineup after not being considered to start versus Liverpool.
Up next in the WSL , Arsenal will welcome Aston Villa to Emirates Stadium, which will be on October 15th, kick-off 14:00 UK. Broadcaster still to be confirmed.
Aston Villa lost 2-0 away to Liverpool yesterday, in a game that pretty much saw Liverpool dominate end-to-end. Will Carla Ward be able to get the Villans in shape to face Arsenal on Sunday? Villa really didn’t seem to find any rhythm without Kirsty Hanson, who is currently serving a 3 match ban after being red-carded against Manchester United last week.
What do you think Gooners? Can our Gunners get their first win of the WSL season on Sunday?
COYGW!
Michelle Maxwell
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We need a quality goalkeeper
Two goals for Man U could have been prevented
Also we need a settled defence, we were eliminated from Champions League because of two defensive errors