Suzanne Wrack's match report
Here’s our reporter’s take from Meadow Park:
Suzanne Wrack’s match report will be here in just a moment. Until then, wander over to Craven Cottage for Fulham v Leeds. Thanks for your company. Bye!
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Kim Little speaks post-match after a big three points. “We have not been performing well so it is a big result for us,” the Arsenal midfielder says. “For big clubs, it is our aim to be in Europe and we want to be there. At times we have not been good enough but hopefully results like this can give us a bit of momentum.”
Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd
Arsenal hold on to earn a priceless victory, despite being reduced to 10 midway through the second half when Beth Mead was sent off. Carlotte Wubben-Moy powered in a header after the break to build on an early own goal by Millie Turner and Arsenal offer a timely reminder of their top-three credentials. Arsenal cut the gap to United to three points. The fight for Europe goes on.
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90+5 min: Arsenal are almost there.
90+2 min: ... Staniforth sends a shot crashing into the wall.
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90+2 min: United win a free-kick, 25 yards from goal ...
90 min: ... it comes to nothing. There will be five added minutes. Evans replaces Miedema and Arsenal look set to eke out victory.
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88 min: Miedema pulls a shot wide, via a deflection, and, if anything, Arsenal look as though they may extend their advantage. They have a corner ...
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87 min: Arsenal look a good thing here.
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85 min: The ball drops kindly for Katie Zelem, her first touch is good but he ends up wildly blasting over. Time is running out for United to stage a comeback.
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82 min: Manchester United have the ball in the net but Sigsworth is flagged offside. And now Roord is withdrawn in place of Malin Gut.
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81 min: Can United wrangle a way back in?
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80 min: Arsenal look set to tweak personnel, with Malin Gut being readied.
77 min: Miedema has a shot blocked! Arsenal flow down the left flank through McCabe, they cut the ball back and the Dutch forward takes aim. It looked destined to at least trouble the United goalkeeper but Millie Turner intervenes.
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75 min: Into the final quarter of an hour at Meadow Park! Elsewhere, Fulham and Leeds are just getting started:
70 min: Christen Press does brilliantly to try and dig United upfield, beavering away by the corner flag inside the United half. United try to break and then Staniforth sends in a subsequent free-kick. It dribbles out of play.
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68 min: It has largely descended into a game of attack v defence, though Arsenal win a free-kick following another cheap foul. They have been a recurring theme in this stop-start second period.
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65 min: Joe Montemurro appeared to immediately gesture to switch to play with a lone striker and Arsenal seem happy to get bodies behind the ball. It could be a long half-hour for the Arsenal defence. Mead went to ground and it was inevitable she would be sent packing.
Sent off! Mead (Arsenal)
63 min: Beth Mead makes a crude challenge on Sigsworth, who has only been on for a matter of seconds, and the Arsenal forward picks up a second yellow card. Can United make the most of the extra body?
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62 min: Lauren James, who shone on her return from injury, is replaced by Jessica Sigsworth. United have struggled to penetrate Arsenal this half.
60 min: We have the game’s first real lull.
56 min: Arsenal are stroking the ball around gracefully. Can Manchester United weather the storm?
53 min: Harris is penalised for an overzealous challenge on van de Donk and Arsenal win a free-kick on halfway. The hosts look rather comfortable now after establishing a two-goal cushion. As it stands, Arsenal will move to within three points of United.
51 min: Mead is booked for Arsenal. Casey Stoney, hands in pockets, does not look best pleased on the touchline. A disastrous start to the second half for United, who spurned a handful of first-half openings.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd (Wubben-Moy, 50)
A corner hangs towards the back post and Wubben-Moy plants a header beyond Mary Earps. Arsenal made it look easy but it was a well-executed set piece.
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50 min: Miedema wins a corner ...
48 min: Beth Mead drops a shot just wide of goal! The Arsenal forward does brilliantly, twisting and turning as he skates around the edge of the box and, shifting on to her left foot, has a pop at goal. Her shot is a little scruffy and it zings just wide. Arsenal are in the ascendency and United are under the cosh.
46 min: Van de Donk takes aim from the edge of the box but it is comfortable for Mary Earps. The Arsenal midfielder is getting her eye in at least.
46 min: Peeeeep! Arsenal get the second half started.
Elsewhere this evening ...
Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United
Millie Turner’s own goal inside three minutes separates the sides at the interval. It has been a lively, and sometimes fractious, contest. Lauren James passed up Manchester United’s best opening, blazing over from the edge of the box.
45 min: Arsenal get a chance to put the ball in the box on the brink of the interval. But a free-kick 30 yards from goal is instead played wide to Kim Little, whose cross is not cleanly dealt with by Earps. United eventually calm things down and try to build an attack of their own. There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Arsenal go in search of a second and Roord nonchalantly twirls away from Turner in the United defence. She tries to steer a shot into the far corner and beyond Mary Earps in the United goal but it ends up skewing towards the near post. A let-off for United.
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42 min: Millie Turner directs a header at goal from another United free-kick but in the end it is a little tame and Zinsberger gathers in the Arsenal goal. United will wonder how they have not drawn level given the slew of chances.
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39 min: And now a niggling foul goes in Arsenal’s favour. It has been a fairly feisty contest.
38 min: James draws another foul, this time from Beth Mead. United win a free-kick 35 yards from goal. Casey Stoney makes the point to the officials that James appears to have been targeted by Arsenal’s defence – roughed up, essentially.
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35 min: Christen Press curls at goal from 25 yards out ... it drops just wide of the Arsenal goal. Plenty of causes for optimism for Casey Stoney and co.
34 min: United have been the better team but Arsenal still lead.
33 min: Now it is Arsenal’s time to hog possession. It’s been an entertaining game, but clear-cut chances have been few and far between. Saying that, Lauren James will be kicking herself if United fail to take anything away from this.
32 min: ... that was short and sweet. United’s free-kick is poor and Arsenal welly it clear. Back come United, though, with a spring in their step.
31 min: Katie McCabe is booked for a challenge on Toone and United win an opportunity to get the ball in the mixer ...
30 min: James sends in another cross after beating Kim Little down the left but an Arsenal defender heads away. United continue to probe.
28 min: United get another whiff of goal and now their tails are up. Arsenal look a little vulnerable defensively.
27 min: ... Lauren James blazes over! United break down the left and shift the ball inside to James centrally. She takes a touch but spoons the ball over. Either side of the Arsenal goalkeeper and United would surely have levelled. Could that lack of composure prove costly?
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26 min: ... Beth Mead whips in a corner but it fails to beat the first defender and Amy Turner wallops clear, kickstarting the counterattack ...
25 min: Toone now clashes with McCabe. Emotions are certainly running high tonight – there’s a lot riding on this one. United concede another corner ...
23 min: Arsenal turnover the ball and Beth Mead frees Kim Little wide on the right ... but her disappointing shot bobbles towards the United goal.
22 min: United appear to have calmed things down after that rush of blood to the head a moment ago by Earps. United look the more comfortable in possession, and they’re having plenty of it.
19 min: ... Mary Earps, the United goalkeeper, came to punch the ball clear but got nowhere near it. Arsenal are unable to profit, though. United make a meal of clearing their lines and Arsenal continue to press high.
17 min: Toone and Foord enjoy a mini-contretemps on the flank but nothing comes of it and Arsenal fly down the right through Mead. Both teams have looked susceptible in wide areas. Arsenal win another corner ...
13 min: James wins a foul for Manchester United – all of United’s good work is coming through the England youngster – but they have yet to truly trouble Arsenal, who went ahead through that early goal. United are seeing plenty of the ball.
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10 min: Lauren James gets to the byline but overcooks her cross ... Ella Toone picks up the pieces at the back post but the Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger soon smothers it and promptly barks a few instructions to her defence. Presumably she wants her defenders to wake up to the threat of the talented teenager James.
8 min: Big block to deny Christen Press! United win the ball high up the pitch, Groenen slips the ball back towards the edge of the box, where Press and Lauren James are lurking. Arsenal throw bodies on the line and gather themselves for the aftermath.
6 min: ... harmlessly over by Miedema.
5 min: ... more joy down left flank for Arsenal and Millie Turner does well to clear the ball away for a corner. Arsenal’s Mead will whip it in ...
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4 min: Lauren James bumps off a challenge on the edge of the box and then picks out Christen Press, who cuts inside and tests the Arsenal goalkeeper. A lively and open start to proceedings ...
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Man Utd (M Turner own goal, 3)
It was a fast start ... and now the dream start for Arsenal! Jill Roord zoomed forward and let fly but it cannoned off Millie Turner and it may well go down as an own goal.
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2 min: Arsenal start on the front foot. Casey Stoney certainly looks the more relaxed of the two managers. Joe Montemurro seems a little nervy.
Peeeeeeeeeeep!
United get us under way. It is a lovely evening in Hertfordshire.
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The players are almost ready to go at Meadow Park ...
The managers have their say. “Big game, big game,” says Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro. “Both teams are going for Champions League spots and we’re looking forward to it. There is pressure in every game – it is a game. There has been a lot said about us not competing with the top two or three teams and we want to make sure we stay in the upper echelons of the division and right the wrongs.” As for Casey Stoney, a whiff of mind games? “I think it’s bigger for them than it is for us,” she says.
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Essential pre-match reading:
Friday’s game is huge. Arenal are fourth in the league and six points behind United but have a game in hand. Win on Friday and win their game in hand and they are level on points. Lose or drop points and United could well be out of reach.
Team news news: Arsenal captain Kim Little returns in midfield but Leah Williamson misses out after sustaining a quad injury in training. For United, a big boost is the return of forward Lauren James, who partners Christen Press and Ella Toone up front.
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The teams!
Arsenal (4-3-3): Zinsberger; Maritz, Wubben-Moy, Walti, McCabe; Little, Roord, Van de Donk; Mead, Miedema, Foord
Subs: Stenson, Williams, Patten, Maier, Gut, Nobbs, Evans
Manchester United (4-3-3): Earps; Harris, A Turner, M Turner, Batlle; Zelem, Groenen, Staniforth; Toone, James, Press
Subs: Bentley, Bourne, Smith, Thorisdottir, Hanson, Ladd, Jones, Ross, Sigsworth
Preamble
Manchester United know a result here would go a long way to securing a spot in the Champions League next season but defeat at Borehamwood would give Arsenal a leg-up and plenty of encouragement approaching the run-in. Casey Stoney’s side come into the game with a six-point advantage over a free-scoring Arsenal, who also have a game in hand. United are yet to savour European football since their inception three years ago but victory against an Arsenal team that has fallen off the pace would represent a huge push in the right direction. Chelsea remain at the summit but United will feel victory could also keep them in contention for the title. For Arsenal, defeat would be a major blow and the magnitude of the occasion is not lost on United, victorious when these sides met in November, either. “This last push is going to be really important to secure that top three,” says Stoney.
Kick-off: 6.30pm
