Match report
I’ll leave you with Suzanne’s report from Leigh. Thanks for joining me, and goodnight.
Suzanne Wrack’s match report will be online shortly, so while you wait, why not have a gander at this week’s WSL talking points?
It’ll be very interesting to see how United fare this season. They’ve been unlucky to lose against both City and Arsenal. They may prove to be the third-best team in the division - but Stoney would probably settle for mid-table consolidation in their first WSL campaign.
Here’s Casey Stoney: “I’m gutted, I thought we deserved more. To concede like that, when we’ve given everything, is disappointed. I can’t be anything but proud of them, they put their bodies on the line.”
“We’ve created chances today, but we need to take them. We’ve played the top two teams in the league, and run them close. Half of these players are new to this league, we just need to change those fine margins, and turn them in our favour.”
Vivianne Miedema was seen having a stern word with the referee after that game. Montemurro is keen to brush it off, saying “Viv’s always a bit emotional after games”. I didn’t see any refereeing howlers, or any particular reason for Miedema to feel aggrieved.
Here are the thoughts of Joe Montemurro: “First half, we probably forced things a little bit. In the second half, we had a few opportunities, but it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net, and we did in the 89th minute! This is a tough place to come to, plenty of teams will struggle here.”
That late winner means Arsenal are up to third, joining Everton and Manchester City with two wins out of two. The bottom two? Liverpool and Manchester United, who play each other in two weeks’ time.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everton Women | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Man City Women | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Chelsea Women | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | West Ham Women | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Reading Women | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Bristol City Women | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 10 | Birmingham City Women | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 11 | Liverpool FC Women | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 12 | Man Utd Women | 2 | -2 | 0 |
Shoutout to Charles Antaki for basically calling it at half-time (20.28). The guy just knows.
Some reaction from Kim Little: “We had to be patient, I should have scored about three goals before DVD did! She came on and made the difference. Three games, three wins, so I’m proud of the team.”
And the goalscorer, Danielle van de Donk: “It’s important to win early games, to keep up with our title rivals. I don’t care who scores though, as long as we win! We want to win every prize there is, and we have the squad.”
Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal
And they do, with Van de Donk’s late goal sealing a narrow, but ultimately deserved victory.
94 mins: James clatters into Evans, and earns a yellow card. Louise Quinn is on for Roord as Arsenal look to see this out ...
93 mins: Van de Donk commits a careless foul, allowing James the chance to lift in one more cross. Like many of United’s set pieces today, it’s undercooked, and Arsenal clear.
92 mins: Two of the four added minutes played. Zinsberger is booked for time-wasting, then claps the referee sarcastically. Careful now!
90 mins: Hanson almost grabs an unlikely equaliser, cutting onto her left foot and firing an effort onto the roof of the net from 25 yards! This second half has been relentless.
Arsenal kept piling on the pressure, with Williamson seeing her shot blocked, before the pressure finally told. Mead’s cross from the right deflected into the path of Danielle van de Donk, who prodded the ball home. That’s cruel on the hosts, who have defended so well.
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GOAL! Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal (van de Donk 88')
They can’t! The substitute has won it for Arsenal!
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87 mins: Miedema hits the post!! This is getting silly. Faced by a wall of red shirts, Miedema picks her spot - and curls a shot against the far upright! Can United possibly hang on?
85 mins: Or will United snatch victory? Toone gets free down the left, but her cross towards Hanson is cleared behind. Corner ... and it’s comfortably claimed by Zinsberger.
84 mins: The corner is cleared, then returned to the far post, where Miedema heads wide. Arsenal are dominant now, but time is against them ...
82 mins: Arsenal snuff out a United attack and break away, Little leading the charge again. She finds Evans, whose cross is intercepted. Little then wriggles into the area, only for Earps, her main rival for player of the match, to deny her at the near post!
81 mins: Arsenal corner, and a spot of head tennis before the ball lands nicely for Miedema. Her half-volley has Earps on her heels, but zips a foot over the bar!
80 mins: Ack, it’s a disappointing delivery from Zelem, floating straight through to Zinsberger.
79 mins: Clever play from James, the teenager picking up on a loose pass and holding up play until Roord brings her down. The Arsenal midfielder is booked, and United have a free kick 30 yards out...
78 mins: Kirsty Hanson is on for United, replacing the impressive Sigsworth.
75 mins: Oof! Another good chance for Arsenal as Miedema plays Mead in on the right side of the area. She takes a touch, and drills a shot just beyond the far post.
74 mins: Earps gets another serenade from the crowd, with Phil Neville among them (but not joining in, we’ll assume). There aren’t that many keepers with their own chant, are there?
73 mins: United make their first foray forward for a while, and Hayley Ladd chests down Smith’s cross before skewing an awkward shot over the bar.
71 mins: Earps’ clearance is charged down by Miedema, but McManus is there to snuff out the half-chance. United have defended so well tonight.
70 mins: Mead’s corner is poor, drifting beyond everyone waiting in the box. Twenty minutes for someone to grab a winner.
69 mins: Little tries another twisting run into the area, but her cross-shot is deflected behind. It’s Nobbs, still making her return from a bad injury, who makes way for Van de Donk.
67 mins: Little slaloms into the United area, and has space to shoot - but Earps gets behind her shot and holds on.
65 mins: Arsenal win a free kick as Sigsworth kicks Mead in the shin - it looked accidental, but undoubtedly a foul. Can Mead find the killer ball? No. United deal with it, and Danielle van de Donk is coming on shortly.
63 mins: Little is again at the heart of Arsenal’s attacking play, this time denied by Abbie McManus, who makes a fine interception.
If you like lively games with no goals in them, tonight is delivering. It’s Villa 0-0 West Ham in the David Cameron Derby, which Nick Ames has been watching intently:
On the Human League chant:
@niallmcveigh I think you'll find it's "Mary Earps baby, Mary Earps oooooh" after our magic goalie.
— Tor Turner (@miscreancy) September 16, 2019
The keeper has certainly earned the love from the crowd tonight.
59 mins: More excellence from Earps, who denies Kim Little not once, but twice, from an acute angle. This could easily be 2-2, or more.
58 mins: Ross gets the hook moments after that chance, with former Arsenal academy product Lauren James replacing her. Katie Zelem gets a booking, presumably for dissent.
57 mins: And just like that, United have their best chance of the game! Sigsworth’s through ball is inch-perfect and Jane Ross is in on goal - but Zinsberger stands tall to make a big save. Ross toe-pokes the ball back across goal, where Williamson hoiks clear. What a let-off for Arsenal!
56 mins: A lull. Goals please!
54 mins: A lucky bounce falls to Evans, but her cross is hurried and beyond Mead and Miedema.
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53 mins: More Arsenal pressure but Earps remains solid, getting down to stop Miedema’s well-struck, if central, effort on goal.
52 mins: The home fans have a chant to the tune of the Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me?@ - can anyone enlighten me as to who or what it’s about?
51 mins: United keep their shape and force Mead to try a long-range cross with her right foot. It’s into the right area, but easy for Earps to come and claim.
50 mins: Williamson and Ross collide in midfield, with the United forward penalised for a shove that sent her opponent spinning. Arsenal play the ball around from the free kick ...
48 mins: Earps is off her line smartly to deny Sigsworth, almost set free behind the defence by Galton’s through ball.
46 mins: Arsenal win an early corner that Mead powers into the danger zone, but Beattie can’t connect.
A bit of a Cup tie feel in the first half, United punching above their weight before Arsenal gained a little control. Neither side made the vital breakthrough, however.
Kick-off 2
The second half is under way!
“Odd that van de Donk hasn’t started - the Man Utd massed defence looks like it will take her sort of guile to get through,” says Charles Antaki. “Miedema looks a bit lonely waiting for service. 2nd half sub maybe?”
I think Van de Donk has likely been rested after the Champions League tie in Florence, but I’m sure she’ll be heading on soon enough if Arsenal can’t make the breakthrough.
Half time! Man Utd 0-0 Arsenal
No injury time, and a half with no goals, but plenty of intrigue. The hosts started stronger, but have Mary Earps to thank after her terrific double save from Vivianne Miedema kept the scores level. More soon.
44 mins: Little flicks a pass into Miedema, who works a yard of space to shoot. Her near-post effort is tame, and Earps gets down to collect the ball.
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42 mins: ... but United are holding firm, with Little denied by a fine challenge, before Galton is penalised for a foul on Maier.
40 mins: Arsenal sense this might be their moment to strike, and push upfield ...
38 mins: The first corner is cleared behind, but from the second, Mead strikes an inside-out delivery that almost catches Earps out! She gets a fingertip to it, I think, and it clips off the bar and away from danger.
37 mins: WHAT A SAVE! Little feeds the ball left to Evans, switching sides with Mead. She gets too much time to pick out Miedema with a cross. The forward powers a header on goal, and thinks she’s scored - but Earps claws it away from the near post! The keeper then leaps up to deny Miedema from the rebound ...
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35 mins: Miedema is flagged offside after Lisa Evans delays her through-ball a fraction too long. In the dugout, Montemurro looks like a man waiting for his starter to arrive.
34 mins: Zinsberger comes off her line to claim a high ball into the box, in the direction of Sigsworth. Arsenal break, but Evans’s cross is headed clear. The game getting a little more stretched now.
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32 mins: Kirsty Smith cuts in from the left, sees space open up and keeps moving, before firing an ambitious effort at goal that’s well struck, but a long way over ...
30 mins: McCabe and Little get their wires crossed as the latter tries to break into the area. It’s not clicking for Arsenal yet, but you can still sense the danger.
29 mins: United win a fortunate corner from which Arsenal clear and break at speed - and Amy Turner has to execute a perfect slide tackle to keep Mead from breaking through on goal!
28 mins: Montemurro looks a little peeved on the touchline, as another attacking move fizzles out in the final third.
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27 mins: Arsenal keep playing it out from the back, blissfully unaware that Norwich City destroyed that concept over the weekend.
25 mins: The hosts have edged the first 25 minutes, with Arsenal yet to test Mary Earps in the United goal.
23 mins: Sigsworth, a traditional No 9 being utilised out on the right tonight, bursts clear and swings in a far-post cross. Arsenal scramble it behind but from the corner, the ball ricochets to Toone. Her snap-shot flies over the bar.
21 mins: Amy Turner is penalised for a clumsy challenge on McCabe, but avoids a booking. A chance for Little to put a dangerous free kick into the box - but her drifting delivery is over the head of her fellow Scot, Jen Beattie.
19 mins: Ella Toone brings the ball forward, and with options left and right, opts for a highly optimistic shot from 30 yards. It flies into the empty terrace behind the goal, which is festooned with United banners.
18 mins: Amy Turner gets across to nod a long ball away from Beth Mead. Arsenal still very much in second gear, here.
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16 mins: Can Arsenal punish that miss? Kim Little starts a counter-attack and McCabe swings a dangerous cross in towards Miedema, who is just crowded out.
14 mins: Ella Toone spurns the best chance of the game so far! Beattie’s poor pass out from the back is picked up by Sigsworth, who motors down the right and crosses. Toone runs in, unmarked, but heads wide.
12 mins: Arsenal get a free kick inside the United half, but some valiant pressing forces them to play all the back to Zinsberger.
10 mins: Arsenal have had a long spell on the ball, pinging passes around without threatening the United defence. The hosts appear happy to sit back, for now.
8 mins: Leah Williamson is penalised for a foul on Jane Ross, but United can’t make anything out of the free kick.
7 mins: Not much fluency in the early stages. Arsenal might be feeling it a bit after a long, albeit very successful, Champions League trip to Italy.
5 mins: ‘Same old Arsenal, always cheating’ is the chant from the crowd as the visitors fail to win a free kick.
4 mins: Sigsworth, the Championship’s top scorer with United last season, just fails to control a long diagonal pass when well placed.
2 mins: Sigsworth does well to chase down a long pass, but can’t pick out Jane Ross with her cut-back on the stretch.
1 min: Both teams starting in what looks like a 4-3-3. Galton, Sigsworth and Ross up top for United; Evans, Miedema and Mead for Arsenal.
Kick off
Here we go, then. United in red and white, Arsenal in yellow and navy.
There’s a decent crowd at the Leigh Sports Village. Incidentally, United’s women’s team base is the Cliff, the training ground thrust back into the spotlight by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last season.
Updated
Casey Stoney: “We know we’re playing the best team in England. We need to work hard out of possession, we learnt last week we can compete, now we’ll try to get something.”
Joe Montemurro on Jordan Nobbs, making her first start since her ACL injury last year: “Jordan has been playing 30, 40 minutes. This feels like the right time, let’s see how she does.”
Catch up with this weekend’s talking points - including a mention for Chloe Kelly, who left Arsenal for Everton last year and fired in an absolute rocket against Bristol City:
Some pre-game reading for you: Suzanne Wrack meets Lia Walti, Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder who has battled injury, and dealt with the tragic death of compatriot Florijana Ismaili, in recent months.
Team news
Both sides go with attacking line-ups but both have notable absentees in the starting XI. Summer signing Jackie Groenen misses out for United with an injury, while Danielle van de Donk is on the bench for Arsenal.
Manchester United: Earps; Smith, McManus, M Turner, A Turner; Galton, Zelem (c), Ladd, Toone; Sigsworth, Ross.
Subs: Mikalsen, Harris, Green, James, Arnot, Hanson, Edwards.
Arsenal: Zinsberger; Maier, Williamson, Beattie, McCabe; Roord, Nobbs, Little, Evans; Miedema, Mead.
Subs: Peyraud-Magnin, Mitchell, Quinn, Schnaderbeck, Grant, Filis, van de Donk.
Preamble
For the Manchester United women’s team, it has been a long and rocky road to their first ever top-flight home fixture. A supporters’ side floated around the lower divisions before earning affiliation with the club in 2001 - only for funding to be pulled four years later, casting the team into oblivion.
Last year, an official team was born and cantered to promotion, managed by Casey Stoney and with significant squad investment. They are still playing catch up in a landscape that has changed almost beyond recognition - but tonight’s opponents can show them the way.
Arsenal were once England’s dominant force but fell behind Chelsea and Manchester City, only to return to the summit under a canny coach, with a side that blends homegrown talent with imported star names. Joe Montemurro’s team swept to the WSL title last year, and are favourites to do so again, this year.
It’s the next step in a daunting start for United, but Stoney’s side showed in the narrow derby defeat to City that they are ready to compete at this level. An upset is not out of the question here, and then Manchester United really would be back on the women’s football map.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm, BST at Leigh Sports Village.
