An opening day classic saw fans of the Barclays Women’s Super League treated to a spectacle, as Arsenal and Manchester City drew level after a thrilling clash in front of 41,818 fans at Emirates Stadium.
Pre-Match
The Gunners boss made some notable changes to his starting eleven, as Lionesses duo Alessia Russo and Beth Mead both drop to the bench, whilst Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord earn their respective starts. Leah Williamson’s notable absence from the match day squad was confirmed by the squad to be ‘concussion protocols’.
As for Manchester City, Gareth Taylor opted to start Ayaka Yamashita in place of Khiara Kheating between the sticks, whilst Aoba Fujino makes her league debut for the Cityzens. Perhaps most notably, Vivianne Miedema makes her return to Emirates Stadium- but this time in sky blue.
The Lineups
ARS: Zinsberger; Fox, Codina, Wubben-Moy, McCabe; Little, Cooney-Cross, Maanum; Foord, Caldentey, Russo
MCI: Yamashita; Ouahabi, Aleixandri, Greenwood, Casparij, Hasegawa, Park, Miedema, Hemp, Fujino, Shaw
The Action
North London Forever ran through the stands in N5, as Arsenal got play underway from the spot. The hosts looked dynamic from the outset, as Mariona Caldentey wheeled past Kerstin Casparij to catalyse an attack, before a flick-on from Frida Maanum found Stina Blackstenius in an offside position.
The narrative was almost written in just the sixth minute, as a blunder in the midfield from the hosts saw Vivianne Miedema gain possession and strike from distance. The former Gunner sent the stadium into silence, but her attempt narrowly trickled just wide of the open net to keep the scores level.
The Gunners stayed vigilant, as Caitlin Foord streamed down the width in possession, before firing a low cross into the area. The ball was slightly bumped back as Blackstenius only just failed to meet it, but Maanum was present to fire the scraps into the back of the net, and send the Arsenal fans into rapture.
Blackstenius had a golden opportunity to double the advantage inside the first fifteen minutes, as a ball over the back caught Laia Aleixandri and Alex Greenwood watching, as the Swedish striker found herself one-on-one with Yamashita. The Gunners number 25 took one to many touches, as eventual defensive pressure saw her fire her strike just-wide of the target.
The Cityzens searched for one back, as Lauren Hemp tried her chances from distance. Though her strike was stopped at the gates by Manuela Zinsberger, who reached and carried the danger away. The visitors continued to find their groove, as a cross from Hemp located Fujino on the back post, before Katie McCabe intervened with a saving block.
Gareth Taylor was forced to make a change before the break, as a sore Leila Ohauabi was replaced with Alanna Kennedy. This meant Aleixandri dropped to left back, as Kennedy sat next to Greenwood in the right-centre-back position.
Despite looking on the wrong side of the momentum for majority of the half, Manchester City would get their equaliser from someone who is all too familiar with scoring in North London, as Miedema’s strike took a deflection to send the net rippling.
Yamashita made her involvement in the starting eleven very well justified, as Taylor’s first-choice goalkeeper denied a one-one-one opportunity for Blackstenius in the closing moments of the first half with a brilliant save.
The second half started in excitement, as Mariona teed up a perfect cross into the area in search of Arsenal’s second. Foord was well-positioned to clean up the scraps of the second, but the flag was raised and her celebrations were quickly halted.
A scuffle inside the area saw Wubben-Moy go down sore, before Jess Park fired a hopeful half-volley off the crossbar and into the goal, leaving Zinsberger rooted to the ground in disbelief as the Cityzens clinched the lead.
Miedema had a double chance within close range as the clock ran into the 70th-minute mark, but the former Gunner was unable to fire either of her strikes past Zinsberger.
The Arsenal number one had to do her best just moments later, as Bunny Shaw fired a strike goal-bound only to be saved by a stretching Zinsberger.
Alessia Russo failed to cease her moment, as she fired her one-on-one opportunity straight to the awaiting hands of Yamashita. Both Arsenal strikers may have written the side’s downfall today, as Stina Blackstenius also missed a hat-trick of chances prior to Russo’s blunder.
The Gunners refused to let up on home turf, as Rosa Kafaji stormed the area on her league debut, before firing her strike into the woodwork. Though the deflection would assist Beth Mead perfectly, as she fired home the equaliser from close range in the 80th minute.
Laia Codina would save the Gunners at the death, as Shaw looked likely to put the game to bed before a brilliant intervention from the Spaniard to clear the play away.
The sides would battle it out in nail-biting fashion over seven further minutes of added time, but would ultimately be forced to settle for the stalemate in what is sure to be considered an opening weekend classic.
