A gutsy performance and Katie McCabe showstopper dragged Arsenal from a goal down to earn a critical 2-1 win against Manchester City and keep their quest for a first league title since 2019 alive.
Khadija Shaw had given City an early lead, but second half goals from Frida Maanum and McCabe moved the hosts within three points of Manchester United having played a game less.
Jonas Eidevall made two changes to the side that beat Bayern Munich to earn progression to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night, with Lotte Wubben-Moy coming in for the injured Kim Little and Leah Williamson shifting into midfield to help fill the hole left by the captain. Sabrina D’Angelo lined up in goal instead of Manuela Zinsberger, Arsenal’s number one.
For City, there were no changes to the side that earned a 2-0 victory over Chelsea, the WSL title holders, last weekend. Gareth Taylor’s side have been served a healthy dollop of luck in their quest for a first title since 2016, with the visit of Chelsea coming shortly after the London side’s battling 1-0 defeat of Lyon in France. City would likely much rather be in the remaining cup competitions, but they are taking full advantage of the longer recovery time afforded them while Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United navigate three games a week for stretches of the campaign.
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No matter how motivated you are, playing against better rested and recovered bodies has an impact and that was evident early on at a sold-out Meadow Park. City came at the Gunners with the same intensity they did Chelsea, with Yui Hasegawa, their puppet master, pulling the strings in the middle. The goal came early, and it was unstoppable, with Chloe Kelly’s cross from the left whipped in for Shaw to powerfully turn in.
It was impressive that the home team managed to restrict City to a one-goal lead going into the break. Where she had shone when thrust into the middle in midweek, Williamson struggled against Hasegawa and Laura Coombs and almost gifted the visiting side their second early on when she failed to clear the ball beyond Shaw and allowed the Jamaican forward to force a fine save from D’Angelo. The error seemed to rattle the England captain, who looked frustrated, but a flying low tackle to dispossess Hasegawa, which led to a Caitlin Foord effort landing safely in the hands of Ellie Roebuck, seemed to awaken her.
Williamson would get a chance herself, collecting Roebuck’s poor pass under pressure before smacking a shot off the face of Alex Greenwood. She would intercept again for Arsenal’s best chance of the half, feeding Maanum who laid off to Victoria Pelova. The Dutch forward then delivered it to Foord who flicked on for Stina Blackstenius, but Roebuck came out to collect ahead of her.
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City would go close twice more and Kelly was the provider for both, first delivering for Coombs to head on to Shaw only for her to nod wide. She then sent in a cross that was met by an unmarked Hemp at the back post, but the England forward skied her effort over the bar.
Eidevall had talked about the importance of “staying focused” amid tough back-to-back games. “That is one of the things we learn from playing lots of games that take a lot of emotion,” he said. They did that at Meadow Park, counterintuitively seeming less fatigued in the second half than they did in the first. Just past the hour mark, the patience paid off. Blackstenius rounded Steph Houghton and pinged the ball into a packed middle, City failed to clear and Maanum turned in from close range.
Arsenal were in the ascendancy and, after a triple substitution to inject some energy into the revitalised home team, Maanum forced a fingertip save from Roebuck. The resulting corner was played short to McCabe, who had been a doubt after leaving the Emirates in a boot on Wednesday, and she skated to the edge of the box before powering the ball high into the far corner. It was a close battle from there and City would pin Arsenal back, a Houghton free kick deep into stoppage time coming back to her off the wall to the relief of the tense home crowd.
