This 1-0 defeat of Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium was never going to be a statement of Arsenal’s title intentions (City’s lead at the top is too big), but a result against the likely champions still had enormous value, mentally and in terms of the Champions League race.
It would take the most terrible of collapses for City to lose their grip on a second league title, 10 years after the first. They are still eight points ahead of Manchester United and 10 over Arsenal, who have a game less than their surroundings.
Andrée Jeglertz, his coach, stated that “he is not worried about the future” after this result. “It’s not going to affect the players. We are fully aware of the situation we are in and we are still in a very good position in the league. We are still confident in what we have done so far. It is important how you analyze this game and move forward as quickly as possible.”
Until a fortnight ago, Renée Slegers’ team, which held out after Olivia Smith’s goal, had struggled this season against other teams in the top four. Until their 2-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, they had taken three points from four Women’s Super League games against City, United and Chelsea, with a loss to City in the first leg and draws in the others.
The Gunners have looked a different team since they had a slow start to the calendar year, this game against City and the Chelsea defeat sandwiched between their victory in the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup.
On his rejuvenation, Slegers said: “Having the players rest, mentally and physically, has done us very, very well because, of course, there was a big tournament last summer with a big load on the players. There are a couple of tactical adjustments that we have been working on that have worked very well. Also, the player investment is very high at the moment.”
“There’s a lot of things that explain why we’re doing well right now, and we said we wanted to write it down, make it specific, make it tangible, because then we’ll know what it is and we can move forward.”
There was some local caution ahead of this clash, however, with Jeglertz’s side humiliating WSL champions Chelsea last week, with Brazilian striker Kerolin scoring a hat-trick in the 5-1 win.
City’s attacking talent is hard to contain: Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Kerolin form a formidable hat-trick and former Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema shines in the number 10 role.
The home team started better, hot on the heels of their counterparts. They were hungrier, quicker to second balls and physical in their pressure.
One way to stop City’s dominant attack is to not let them have much of the ball and, for much of the game, that was a super effective strategy. Defensively, Arsenal were excellent, the centre-back partnership of Lotte Wubben-Moy and Steph Catley really starting to flourish, and allowing Leah Williamson to recover after her injury absence. He came in with six minutes left.
It was in defense where City lacked and how they undid the only goal. Mariona Caldentey played one-two with Kim Little before sending a beautifully heavy ball to Smith. Center back Rebecca Knaak couldn’t keep up with the Canadian international, who shook off her half-hearted challenge and rounded goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita before rolling into the empty goal.
It was a beautifully worked goal and Arsenal should have extended their lead as time wore on – Alessia Russo went close twice in quick succession, forcing a smart save.
They were lucky too: Caldentey was inexplicably not penalized for bringing down Lauren Hemp on the edge of the area when the England striker had only Daphne van Domselaar to beat.
“I haven’t seen him since, so I don’t know,” Jeglertz said of the incident. “At that moment I felt very frustrated because I really felt that it was a clear free kick, but the fourth official was saying that it was still played but he touched the ball.”
There was another moment of dismay with just over 10 minutes left. Miedema collected Yui Hasegawa’s pass only to lose her balance, before picking off Katie McCabe as she recovered and sliding the ball into the net, but it was ruled out for a foul.
Arsenal were lucky and the risk of City punishing their early profligacy was constant, but try as they might, they couldn’t find a way through and as the full-time whistle blew, the home crowd stood up and celebrated, content to temporarily dent City’s run, even if it surely couldn’t take the trophy away from them.