Thanks for your company tonight – that’ll do for now but the match report will be along shortly. Take care and speak to you all again soon!
A word too from Mewis! “I thought this was such a great game, Arsenal was a really tough opponent, the intensity was really high. I’m really proud of the girls, we had to grind it out in the second half and it was a great team effort.”
Thoughts. Arsenal NEED a fit Walti and to cope better under a constant press.
— Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) October 1, 2020
Man City? Wow. From Bronze bossing and instructing Kelly to the relentless of Mewis (which freed space for Walsh and Stanway too) that was some statement of intent.
And now so does City manager Gareth Taylor: “We played really well in the first half, we arguably could have had had a bigger lead. Disappointing with the goal they scored as they never really looked like having an attempt. But the reaction to score within a few minutes epitomises the spirit we have at the moment.”
“We’ve had to wait and be patient [to integrate the new players] but we can just see now that in some moments we’re going to click and others we might get a flatter performance. But I pride myself on the football we play, and on results. Fortunately we came through. Great to go to Wembley, the girls really deserve it.”
Now Jordan Nobbs speaks: “The first half they were the better team, we didn’t keep the ball well and that was the crucial point. In the second half we showed we could play football and if we’d done that in the first half we’d have been a better team. We didn’t do enough tonight so congratulations to Man City.”
Joe Montemurro speaks: “They dominated the first 60 minutes, they were better than us and we have no excuses. We had to change a few things at half-time and be a little bit better, its just disappointing because we have the capacity and ability to play well and tonight wasn’t the night. Kim Little felt something in her hamstring but it’s too early to tell.”
Well deserved for City. They showed silk in the first half and steel in the second. Mewis, despite a quieter last half-hour, was the best performer out there. Arsenal just did not threaten enough, Nobbs’ wonderful strike aside. That flurry at the end was really as good as they gave. City celebrate on the pitch, and can perhaps feel their season is up and running now.
Full-time: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal
City hold on and will play Everton in the final a month from now!
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90+4 min: And they almost plunder a goal! McCabe strikes the wall and but seizes on the rebound and marauds down the right ... her drilled cross is diverted off the head of Miedema by Roebuck in the keeper’s first major intervention of the night!
90+3 min: Arsenal will have one last chance! A mystified Bonner concedes a free-kick in a similar position to Houghton’s goal, but on the right of the D ...
90+2 min: Houghton is across to cut out a ball down the right from Arsenal and then hurls herself at a cross from the same side. Then she’s placed to hack away when a ball threatens to run loose in the area. City are holding so firm.
90+1 min: Into added time now; we’ll see THREE minutes more.
89 min: McCabe picks up a booking, and City have a free-kick in Arsenal territory. Time is running out for the 14-times winners.
88 min: City have everyone back now, but look compact and very hard to break down. They’ve been smooth going forward and look rugged at the back. It’s been a very convincing all-round display – so far – against top opponents.
85 min: They do earn a corner through Van de Donk. It’s swung in from McCabe and Williamson attacks the ball, but she can’t connect properly and City manage to clear.
84 min: The excellent Stokes now thwarts Mead. Then Lavelle tracks back and wins a sharp challenge. Arsenal are pressing for a leveller; can they create the all-important chance?
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82 min: Arsenal howl for a backpass after Mead knocks the ball through to Van de Donk and Houghton, losing her bearings for a moment under pressure, knocks it into Roebuck’s arms. I think she shinned it, and it was unintentional. Then Miedema almost gets in beyond Stokes, who holds her ground and tackles expertly. Arsenal are knocking on the door properly for the first time.
80 min: Now Miedema gets in behind Bonner, for the first time in the night, but just overcooks her touch as you fancy her to have a crack from an angle. That’s really the first sight she’s had. For City, Park replaces Kelly.
79 min: City are conceding one or two more set-pieces than they might like, not that Arsenal really look like capitalising. The latest one is played short and, having started 20 yards into City territory, ends up all the way back with Zinsberger.
77 min: That Miedema exhortation has coincided with some visible urgency from Arsenal, for the first time in the evening really.
75 min: Stanway’s speculative shot takes a snick and loops back to Zinsberger. Miedema, looking very frustrated, bawls at her teammates to get her the ball more quickly! They subsequently oblige, she wins a rare flick-on and Arsenal win a corner. That’s played short and Miedema almost manages to nod the eventual delivery on to Foord.
72 min: Mead is fouled and Arsenal, who never really built any momentum after those two corners around the hour, have a free-kick 30 yards out. It’s touched left to McCabe but her drive is charged down.
70 min: The danger for City, of course, is they haven’t killed this off despite their superiority and Arsenal still have the likes of Miedema and Mead on the pitch ...
68 min: Lavelle gets her first chance for a run into space down the left but overruns the ball – probably ring rust.
67 min: Stanway buys a dangerous free-kick outside the box and to the left, but Mewis is off beam – a rarity – and Zinsberger collects. Mewis has been a little quieter since Walti came on.
65 min: Here is Lavelle, in place of Ellen White. This will be interesting!
64 min: Rose Lavelle is coming on shortly for her debut! In case Arsenal’s task needed to get any harder.
62 min: Zinsberger does well to clutch a low, fizzed Bronze cross after a smart move releases her down the right.
60 min: Mead wins another corner for Arsenal, who have brightened up at last. She drives in the set-piece but it glances off a head and out to the far side.
58 min: A good move from Arsenal, Williamson spreading the play so that Foord can reach the byline and drive in a cross that’s deflected behind. Van de Donk puts in a low corner, and Mead has a go at the half-cleared ball, but City eventually get it away.
55 min: City look the likelier and Mewis can’t quite turn Kelly’s centre into a chance. Eventually Arsenal clear but, as in the first half, there’s only really one team in this currently.
53 min: Kelly, very lively here, shoots well over from range.
52 min: There are signs of Arsenal pressing more aggressively from the front but City are still seeing much more of the ball, and from one attack Weir plays in Stanway on the left of the box. It’s a good shooting chance, with White also free to her right, but she shoots straight at Zinsberger.
50 min: A big blow for Arsenal now. Little goes down and can’t continue – she’s off and replaced by the sitting midfielder Lia Walti.
48 min: That’s to say nothing of Miedema, who just hasn’t been in it and has made nothing stick on those rare occasions when given the chance. As I write that, she misses a decent opportunity to play Foord in after some rare sloppy City possession.
46 min: Bronze goes in very heavily on Van de Donk, two-footed, although in fairness she appeared to slip. Van de Donk, usually so spiky and lively, has been very quiet so far.
Peeeeeep! Second half underway ....
Can Arsenal find another equaliser? Will City pull clear? We will soon know.
In that Carabao Cup game, it’s Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal.
“That was a shockingly poor half from Arsenal. The only consolation is that to be as bad again in the second half would be beyond all human possibility,” writes Charles Antaki.
There’s surely an element of City clicking, but Arsenal have offered nothing bar a wondergoal so the point is fair.
Half-time: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal
They’re halfway to Wembley! City totally deserve this but looked in danger when Nobbs’ brilliant goal cancelled out Houghton’s similarly superb opener. But the excellent Mewis scored immediately to restore a dominant City’s lead and we’ll have a very nicely-poised second half for you in 15 minutes.
45 min: McCabe is booked for a foul on the again marauding Mewis, and City are seeing the half out well.
43 min: I had been about to write that Nobbs’ goal showed how Arsenal, however quiet, have players who can change a game at any moment. Mewis is clearly in that category though; she’s been the game’s outstanding player so far and that, her first goal for City, was fitting reward.
Goal! Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal (Mewis 41)
That didn’t last long! Mewis gets City purring in midfield and Kelly is in on the right. Her cross seems to have been snuffed out at the near post but White, falling under Williamson’s challenge, is able to nudge the ball cleverly backwards and Mewis rushes in to sweep home!
Goal! Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal (Nobbs 38)
Well! What a goal this is, and how out of the blue! Nobbs had barely been involved but she’s found by a quick, clever little ball from Mead and has space to shoot 25 yards out. She wastes no time, her shot flying over Roebuck and into the roof of the net!
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38 min: Mewis is such a presence in the middle and more than that, she moves the ball on so quickly and slickly.
36 min: Arsenal had that little spell, if we can call it that, a few minutes after the goal but are still posing scant threat. City are cutting off the supply lines to their front players expertly and the likes of Little and Van de Donk have exerted next to no influence.
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33 min: Should be 2-0 to City, Mewis and Weir combining delightfully to tee up White for a free volley 12 yards out, but she completely miscues. She’s made a career of gobbling those up but Arsenal stay in the game.
31 min: White gets her head on a deep Weir delivery but, under the attention of Arsenal’s centre-backs, can only nod straight at Zinsberger.
30 min: Walsh is booked for going in late on Mead. The free-kick is central and about 35 yards out; a much more difficult position than Houghton’s but still with some potential. Mead looks to chip it in for a teammate but gets it totally wrong and it goes harmlessly through to Roebuck.
28 min: Better now from Arsenal, Mead crossing from deep and almost finding Miedema for a finish. Roebuck is just able to gather ahead of the striker.
27 min: Foord clips over a cross from the left for Arsenal in what is their first sign of life, really, but Bonner heads it away well. Little had done smartly to play Foord into space.
25 min: Schnaderbeck has defended well for Arsenal but not too many of her colleagues have caught the eye so far. The game as a whole is in something of a post-goal lull.
23 min: Arsenal have a spell of possession “in and around” City’s half now but too much of their end product is speculative at the moment.
Goal! Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal (Houghton, 19)
Houghton fancied it more! The angle was all set for a right-footer and this was absolutely textbook from the skipper – up, over, down and inside the near post. A fantastic goal and very well deserved; Arsenal have not started yet, and City have been very smooth.
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18 min: Williamson illegally halts a driving run from Weir a little outside the box. Weir could actually fancy this free-kick ...
17 min: Every Arsenal clearance is landing on a City foot. But they haven’t really been opened up yet and we know what firepower they have ...
15 min: Phil Neville is watching from the stands. He’s looking on at one-way traffic as things stand.
14 min: City continue with the pressure, a dangerous Stokes overlap and cross from the left causing some trouble. Arsenal are hacking at things and can’t really get out at the moment. It’s been a really positive start from the hosts even if it’s not yet brought a clear chance.
12 min: Now Mewis finds Kelly down that right side and she cuts in, seeing a dangerous effort deflected wide off McCabe. Mewis is running the show so far. It’s a corner, but Little clears near the edge of the box.
10 min: Stanway shoots wide after a fine switch from Bonner. A theme of City’s work so far has been slightly rushed stuff in the final third.
9 min: Now Kelly clips McCabe, who takes a painful one as she lands. That’ll be run off, though. Still City in the early ascendancy.
7 min: City build patiently, and very slickly it turns out, from the back but Kelly’s cross-shot from the right is wayward and dips over the bar.
5 min: Miedema lays back a wayward pass from halfway and Mewis can glide towards the box, but from 25 yards out her chip is neither fish nor fowl. It’s possible she was seeking White but it drifts out.
4 min: Otherwise it’s a slow-ish start, Arsenal taking some time to get on the ball. City so far slightly the sharper.
2 min: Lucy Bronze, in only her second game back at City, is involved down the right and Mewis works half a sight of goal at the edge of the area. But she drags the shot wide.
Peeeeep! Off we go!
This heavyweight clash starts with Arsenal, traditionally attired if you allow for red shorts, kicking off and shooting from right to left – via a slightly botched knee-taking.
The teams are now stepping out at City’s Academy Stadium ...
The Arsenal men’s team are also in action tonight, in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool. Paul Doyle has the MBM for you:
If we are looking purely at league form, it’s Arsenal who will have their tails up despite City’s big-name summer signing spree. The Gunners have two wins from two and have scored 15 (FIFTEEN) goals. City dropped points at home against Brighton and have not quite clicked yet. Perhaps tonight is the night ...
“Shame that Lisa Evans is out – injury, according to medical authority Dr Twitter – so dow to someone else to score customary the hat-trick,” writes Charles Antaki, beating me to Arsenal’s major piece of team news. “But otherwise a terrific lineup, including surely the WSL’s best midfielder Kim Little?”
Completely agree, Charles. The amazing thing is that she just gets better and better, too.
US World Cup winner Sam Mewis makes her third City appearance – and her compatriot Rose Lavelle will make her long-awaited debut if she comes off the bench. Don’t forget this great interview with Mewis by Suzy Wrack from a few weeks back:
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Teams
Manchester City: Roebuck, Stokes, Bonner, Houghton, Kelly, Stanway, White, Weir, Bronze, Mewis, Walsh. Subs: Bardsley, Taieb, Coombs, Scott, Beckie, Morgan, Park, Lavelle, Greenwood.
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Maritz, Williamson, Schnaderbeck, McCabe, Little, Van de Donk, Nobbs, Mead, Miedema, Foord. Subs: Stenson, Mace, Beattie, Maier, Gut, Wubben-Moy, Walti.
Evening all
Up for the cup! And this is a mouthwatering semi-final in such a hectic, fast-forwarded FA Women’s Cup finale. Weren’t the quarters only a few days ago? Well, yes: Arsenal smashed Spurs on Saturday, Manchester City were given a surprisingly close call by Leicester the following day and now they mean in what, on paper, you’d be forgiven for calling the *real* final.
It isn’t that, of course – not least because Everton, who secured safe passage to next month’s final by beating Birmingham last night, are so good. But it’s still a showcase of many of the good, exciting things that are happening in English women’s football at the moment. Can City, the holders, get to within a game of retaining the famous trophy? Or can Arsenal, the runaway record 14-times victors, edge nearer to their first FA Cup since 2016?
Soon we will know. Join me, for kick-off is shortly upon us!
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