Suzanne Wrack's match report
Manchester United manager Casey Stoney speaks.
We were disappointed with our first-half display. The players that came on made a difference, I have said to the players I am proud of them. Losing 2-1 is no discredit to them. I would live to have seen more [decisions] in our favour but I would say that; I am the manager...The step up is the intensity, their movement and the way they rotated. They will learn loads and they worked so hard...We are are where were, we want to get promoted and compete in the WSL.
Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro speaks.
It’s a semi-final, we expected it to be difficult. It’s about finding the way to control the game. We had to drag them out and break them down. We showed a little bit of inconsistency, but all credit to Manchester United…the idea is to put Vivianne into positions she will put the ball away, she is so clinical...we are still on a growing curve, we are still a bit off.
Some post-match words from Arsenal captain Kim Little and goalscorer Vivianne Miedema.
Little: “In the second half we were disappointing, it can be like that in a cup game. We are through to the final which we are happy with.
Miedema: “We created a lot of chances, even if we didn’t play well. I am happy to score goals and be in the final.”
Little: “It’s the same final as last year, we aim to win everything.”
Miedema: “I don’t care who scores the goals. We just want to win the title.”
Final score: Arsenal 2-1 Manchester United
As so often this season, Vivianne Miedema has been the difference between two teams who didn’t look a division apart for too much of that game. Bramall Lane and Manchester City in the final await.
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90+3 min: Arsenal look to be seeing this one out. United a little tired by now, and Van de Donk tries to keep the ball in the corner. One last chance for United? No, there will not be one of those? 2-1 to the Arsenal.
90+2 min: United going long for their goal, against Arsenal’s big defenders, whose strength is keeping the Championship team at bay. Greenwood’s cross is hopeful rather than expectant.
90 min: United fans roaring for an equaliser, as their team pushes up to chase down Arsenal’s attempts to calm the game down. There will be three minutes of time added on.
88 min: Kim Little has been awarded the player of the match award; her quiet mastery of midfield is what gave Arsenal a grip for so long.
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86 min: United now piling it on and Sigsworth, restored to the centre, takes a shot at goal that is a little disappointing in the circumstances.
85 min: By the way, the Barmy Army are back and singing. The Wetherspoons can wait. A real roar as Hanson forces a corner for United. Greenwood takes, and it is hacked clear by Arsenal.
Goal! Arsenal 2-1 Manchester United (Green, 83)
A shot from Hanson is deflected into the path of Molly Green. Her finish catches Van Veenendaal offguard. A lifeline, and Casey Stoney’s change has her team back into the game.
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82 min: On the sidelines, Casey Stoney is, well, stone-faced. Her team are underdogs here but they have been taught something of a lesson. Final United change: on comes Arnot for Galton. A final throw of the dice for what looks a tired team.
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80 min: The crowd announced - 1832 - not bad at all. Far bigger than Alan Zelem used to play in front of.
78 min: The referee is wearing a coloured bib tonight. The reason for that is she won’t clash with United’s dark blue shirts. You don’t get that from Mike Dean.
76 min: Arsenal change: on comes Veje for McCabe. Veje was rather impressive against Reading the other week.
74 min: Arsenal turning the screw, and United make another change. Off comes Harris for Toone, the former City player; she won’t be playing against her old club in the final, it seems more than likely.
72 min: Beth Mead, who has been outstanding, forces a save from Chamberlain, who has kept well on a busier night than normal.
70 min: Woodwork! Van de Donk plays in Miedema, who crosses for Mead, whose header was goalward until it came off the head of Turner. She had little idea of how that was achieved.
69 min: Hanson, lively since she came on, cuts in from the right on to her left, but her shot’s angles are all wrong and drift into the Hertfordshire twilight.
68 min: Hanson has moved to the right with Sigsworth pushed into the middle. And there is something of a penalty claim as the ball hits what looked like a hand. No luck for the visitors, though.
66 min: Arsenal’s fans out-singing the United Barmy Army now. It’s a long walk to the station from here, though the M1 is not far away.
65 min: Sub for United: Kirsty Hanson for Lauren James, who can be reunited now with that troublesome earring.
63 min: McCabe fouls Sigsworth, who is still full of running. Zelem’s ball into the box is again disappointing. Shades of dad’s goal-kicks there.
61 min: Like that first Arsenal goal from Miedama, it came at a time when United seemed capable of forcing something. Dalton, perhaps in frustration, takes out two as United’s next attack breaks down, Mead and Van de Donk.
Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United (Miedema, 60)
Mead again gets down the left. Her cross is deflected into the path of the Dutch poacher, who calmly cuts into a position from which she finishes calmly.
59 min: Mead, who has always been open on the left, starts an attack. Mitchell, on the overlap as Mead pulls away defenders, puts in a cross that is hurriedly cleared.
57 min: Arsenal pressurising as United sit back on the edge of their area. Their game is being played on the break.
55 min: England manager Phil Neville is in the crowd; United fans were singing about him and sister Tracey before. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s Williamson steps forward to shoot over.
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53 min: The game going from one end to the other here. Neither side with much control of matters. Sigsworth makes a mazy run to the edge of the Arsenal box and is chipped towards James, only to be blocked.
51 min: An Arsenal corner is aimed at Quinn but misses as Dalton deflects it behind instead. The second corner is poor and makes its way to James on the break. Eventually, she gets a shot on goal. Like too many of United’s efforts, it’s from too far out.
49 min: Arsenal on the attack through Miedema down the left, and her pass comes into the centre, for Beth Mead to strike. Decent save from Chamberlain, but a reminder of the superior attacking class of the holders.
47 min: Early shot for United, as Lauren James cuts in from the left and booms one over the bar. Then Sigsworth down the right causes more problems with a couple of crosses that are hurriedly cleared.
46 min: Arsenal get it back underway, and it seems to be their turn to begin by pressing high up the pitch.
Here come the teams again, with Arsenal slightly delayed in arriving. It is a little chilly out there.
Half-time
Vivianne Miedema’s goal the difference, and it also changed the game. United had been the better team but it meant Arsenal could relax and the visitors lost a bit of confidence. By the end of the half, a gulf in class and experience was apparent.
45 min: Arsenal pushing for another before the break. McCabe and Van de Donk were queuing up but the eventual shot was straight at Chamberlain. United force a late corner through Lauren James. It is cleared, for the final action of the half.
44 min: Van de Donk launched one of those flying tackles you need to make or else face the consequences. She did make it, to sighs of Arsenal relief.
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43 min: Zelem has to come across to make a superb defensive block when an Arsenal goal looked certain. Martha Harris does similar as Arsenal try to follow that second ball. It is cleared eventually by a grateful by goalkeeper Chamberlain.
41 min: Arsenal well in control without looking totally dominant. They haven’t been able to play the ball from the back as they usually like, but still United have struggled to create anything like as much danger as they did in the opening minutes.
38 min: United do look tired now, and maybe little emotional. Miedema is hacked to the ground by Amy Turner, who went through the back. No yellow card, which seems odd.
37 min: Lauren James is back on - earring removed and put in the valuables box, no doubt.
36 min: United down to ten as Lauren James has been asked to leave the field to remove an earring. And she is struggling to do so. In the meantime, Turner’s header from a corner is too near Van Veenendaal.
34 min: Re: the Barmy Army and the Gunners’ fans, it sounds like a great atmosphere, better than many a lower league game, and Premier League for that matter. Louder than the Emirates on a Saturday 3pm, perhaps.
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33 min: McCabe’s free-kick was poor and United counter in numbers. Not quick enough, though, as Arsenal pile back. When Greenwood shoots, she has been pushed too far out to threaten. Her shot ends up amid the Barmy Army.
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31 min: Turner and McCabe collide and the decision, awarded as a United foul and a yellow card to Millie Turner, was harsh.
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29 min: Sigsworth, who has been quiet since the goal, gets the ball out to Harris whose cross is decent but claimed quite easily by Arsenal’s keeper.
27 min: Arsenal have pushed forward from what was a deep block - sorry, Graeme Souness - in the early stages. The holders looking far more relaxed.
25 min: Another panic in the United box, and it takes a Miedema foul on Zelem to lift Arsenal’s pressure.
24 min: To be fair to United’s Barmy Army, their noise level continues to impress. That away end at Boreham Wood feels a long way away from the rest of the stadium.
21 min: The stuffing rather knocked out of United at the moment: they allow Bloodworth time to play another pass to Miedema.
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19 min: A harsh lesson for United, who had been defending rather high and left space. Dominique Bloodworth’s pass was superb, and let Miedema score her 11th goal in this competition alone. She has, let us not forget, already scored the most ever goals in a WSL season, after just 13 matches.
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United (Miedema, 18)
A great move, a simple move, as Bloodworth’s pass finds Miedema to slot home with a toe poke - a toe bung in Mancunian terms. Class showed there.
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17 min: Some pushing n’ shoving ahead of the corner. Sigsworth - from Greenwood’s kick - climbs high to head wide.
16 min: Another United attack, this time Greenwood buzzing onwards. Great energy from the visitors against the title favourites. Then Sigsworth forces Mitchell into conceding a corner.
14 min: Close for United. Jess Sigsworth makes another run down the right flanks and fires in a shot just wide of the post.
13 min: More good hustling from United forces Molly Green into an error but Arsenal then manage to go forward so that Miedema can force a save from Chamberlain.
11 min: Good work in United’s midfield, composed stuff, finds Sigsworth in a decent position on the flank, and another foul by Arsenal in a dangerous area. Greenwood takes the kick, no, Katie Zelem takes, with some venom, and Sigsworth rather got in the way of that.
9 min: A poor goal kick, too low, from United keeper Chamberlain actually results in a United attack but Van Veenendaal, the Gunners keeper, is alert to it.
7 min: United not overawed, it seems. Lauren James and Martha Harris working hard down the flank. James, the 17-year-old, looking to show up her old club.
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5 min: United pressing up the pitch with Greenwood leading the charge, and Arsenal unable to settle. A foul on Sigsworth sets up a dead-ball chance. It’s taken short to Turner, before Arsenal clear.
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4 min: Close! McCabe drills one just over after linking up with Miedema. An early sighter.
2 min: A cagey start from the kick-off, though Arsenal have settled into a possession game. Greenwood, United’s captain, is playing in midfield, and concedes an early foul.
Kick-off
The sound from the Hertfordshire faithful is one of those songs that uses Earth, Wind and Fire’s September, while the Barmy Army’s “Manchester La La La” can be heard loud and clear. And a bit of “Red Army”, too.
The teams have taken to the field at Boreham Wood, home of Arsenal Women, representative teams and a No Deal Brexit.
There may be a good reason behind this - perhaps they don’t trust their followers to behave themselves - but seems odd that neither Arsenal nor Manchester United’s official accounts are tweeting about this match.
Gunnersaurus is there, anyway.
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Coaches Joe Montemurro and Casey Stoney have been talking. “We’re taking it in our stride, we respect each team we play against,” said Arsenal coach Montemurro.
Stoney is fired up but realistic. “It’s our biggest test, it’s a test we want, Arsenal are up there as one of the best teams in Europe. We know it’s a one-off game and we will try and have a go. They have the league’s top goalscorer. Will we dominate the way we have been? We know we won’t.”
Word on Katie Zelem, Manchester United’s midfielder, who headed back to England after a spell at Juventus: I used to watch her father, Alan Zelem, play in goal for Macclesfield Town in the late-1980s. He was, as they say, a decent shot-stopper and a town hero, but my recollection is of him being quite small for a goalkeeper, not exactly great at goal-kicks and his rather high-pitched voice. A few of us at school used to attempt Alan Zelem impressions.
Here’s the aforementioned Barmy Army.
🎼 Get in the mood for tonight's big game with a read of this! #MUWomenhttps://t.co/mONzJjWwkP
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) February 7, 2019
Great story here from Suzanne Wrack.
Unfortunately, this is the big story in the women’s game today.
Here’s a reminder of what happened last night.
Here are the teams
Manchester United: Chamberlain, Harris, A. Turner, M. Turner, Smith, Greenwood (c), Zelem, Green, James, Galton, Sigsworth
Subs: Ramsey, Roberts, Palmer, Devlin, Toone, Arnot, Hanson
Arsenal: van Veenendaal; Arnth, Williamson, Quinn, Mitchell; Bloodworth, Little, Van de Donk; Mead, Miedema, McCabe
Subs: Peyraud-Magnin, Veje, Kuyken, Grant, Filis, Hazard
Preamble
The final of this season’s competition will either be a Manchester derby, or a rerun of last year’s final, when Arsenal won the trophy for the fifth time when beating City. Only City, twice winners, and Arsenal have ever actually won this trophy, so a United win tonight presents the chance of a novelty.
Manchester United may be the nascent moneybags team, but Arsenal, should they win their game in hand on leaders City, have the WSL within their grasp and have to be overriding favourites. United, even though they have a couple of games in hand on the rest of the chasers, are fourth in the Championship though they have lost just once season in the league and just once in the round-robin stages of this competition. Arsenal have a perfect record in in the ‘Conti Cup’, including a 9-0 walloping of Lewes.
But how about the red-hot atmosphere that awaits Arsenal from away fans? “Casey’s at the wheel,” sing United’s Barmy Army, appropriating the Stone Roses song used for both José Mourinho and now Ole Gunnar Solskjær, for Casey Stoney, coaching against the club she served for two years.
And how about these anthems, as taken from United’s official website?
- ‘Ooh ah, Martha Harris, ooh ah, a little bit more; Ooh ah, Martha Harris, you’re the one we’re singing for.’
- ‘Woooahhh, we got Leah Galton; woooahhh, super Leah Galton; woooahhh, she never gives the ball awayyy.’
- ‘Gonna score, she’s gonna score, Jess Sigsworth’s gonna score; how she scores them I don’t know, with her head or with her toe; all I know is Siggy’s gonna score.’
- ‘She’s our Scots girl at the back, turns defence into attack; down the left or down the right, Kirsty Smith is dynamite.’
- ‘Kirsty Kirsty Kirstyyyyy, Kirsty Hanson of MUFC; with a jink and a trick, she is skilful and quick; and she’s Hanson of MUFC.’
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