In a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Emirates Stadium, Alessia Russo’s late header enabled Manchester United to recover from a second-half collapse to spoil Arsenal’s pristine start to the season and tie them at the top.
In front of the second-largest WSL audience of 40,604 after the 47,367 who witnessed Arsenal’s victory over Tottenham at the Emirates, United took the lead in the first half through Ella Toone before Arsenal equalized in the second. Frida Maanum tied the game for Arsenal before Laura Wienroether handed them the advantage.
Katie Zelem scored twice from set pieces for United, first for Millie Turner and then for Russo to throw the large away contingent into a frenzy.
Before this encounter, Manchester United’s manager, Marc Skinner, had challenged his team to step up against the best opponents. “As a group, we must continue to push each other if we want to be in these games and win these types of games, despite the difficulty of doing so,” Skinner added.
Before the international break, United was defeated 3-1 by Chelsea, their first loss and first goals allowed of the season.
After Alessia Russo’s first-half opener, Arsenal’s Swedish forward Stina Blackstenius scored in the 79th minute to deny the visiting team a big three points at Borehamwood in the reversal fixture last season.
After playing Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City in three of their past four games before the holiday break, the true test of his team’s development will be reflected at Christmas.
The international break has taken its toll on a depleted Arsenal, but Lotte Wubben-Moy has returned to partner Steph Catley at the defense after recovering from a moderate quad strain. Leah Williamson and Rafaelle remain out with foot ailments. Jordan Nobbs, Beth Mead, Manuela Zinsberger, and Laura Wienroither all started despite sustaining separate injuries during the intermission.
United, on the other hand, welcomed back Ona Batlle for the journey to London; the right-back had not played since mid-October.
In the first half, one could have been forgiven for supposing that the green-clad visitors were the undefeated league leaders. The Gunners surrendered United control in the center much too frequently, with Nobbs, Maanum, and Lia Walti suffering in the absence of Kim Little.
United did not capitalize on their performance until six minutes before halftime, when an unmarked Toone, who had sneaked in behind Wubben-Moy, scored with a back-post side-foot.
United’s wastefulness was immediately punished in the second half, as Maanum stole the ball from Nikita Parris inside the center circle before gliding to the edge of the penalty area and firing a shot that deflected off Maya Le Tissier and into the net. Arsenal emerged from the locker room fighting and played with energy woefully lacking in the first half United was shaken.
After the hour mark, Nobbs was replaced by Vivianne Miedema, whose hard work contributed to Arsenal’s second goal. After breaking in on the left, she was forced to pass the ball back to Caitlin Foord, who passed to Katie McCabe, who crossed the ball to the back post, where Wienroither scored her first goal for Arsenal with a close-range volley.
After Turner’s equalizer with five minutes remaining, Russo scored the game-winning goal early in extra time.
Jonas Eidevall, the manager of Arsenal, stated, “In the first half, I believe it had a lot to do with our placement, as we were too disconnected and did not give enough short passes around the ball. Our placement improved in the second half, but we made some bizarre decisions with the ball.
A far happier Skinner stated, “When we scored today, I devised dance moves.” I twirled and performed pirouettes, but it wasn’t nice. It made me temporarily forget where I was, which is what football should be.
“There are only three points. Please note that this is only worth three points. I’m simply very delighted.”
