The Gunners avoided starting a Women's Super League season with back-to-back defeats for the first time thanks to Cloe Lacasse's stunning late goal
Cloe Lacasse's rocket of a strike gave Arsenal a dramatically late equaliser away at Manchester United on Friday night, a thoroughly entertaining match given the incredible conclusion it deserved when the Gunners' substitute found the top corner in stoppage time. It had looked like Melvine Malard's 81st minute strike would see the three points stay in the north west but there was one more twist in this early season clash between two sides expecting to fight for the Women's Super League title.
Stina Blackstenius gave Arsenal the lead with just 14 minutes on the clock, bursting down the left and finishing well across the face of goal. However, Man Utd were level before the half hour mark, Leah Galton pouncing on a huge error by goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo to tap into an empty goal.
The hosts started the second half well and were close to taking the lead for the first time in the game when Geyse was slipped in behind by Maya Le Tissier, but she fired just wide from an angle. Instead, it was when Arsenal were on top that United would go 2-1 up.
Alessia Russo, whose every touch of the ball was booed on her return to her former club, looked like she'd scored the inevitable winner as the game ticked into the final stages but her curling effort cannoned off of the woodwork, to the despair of the travelling fans.
Moments later, at the other end, Malard made her fresh legs from the bench count when she caught the Arsenal defence sleeping and pounced on a hopeful ball forward from Hinata Miyazawa, finishing expertly on her Man Utd debut. It wouldn't be the winner, though, with Lacasse's wonderstrike ensuring the spoils were shared at the end of a thrilling game.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Leigh Sports Village…
GettyWINNER: Arsenal
This was a must-not-lose game for Arsenal. After suffering defeat on the opening weekend of the season and being eliminated in the first round of Women's Champions League qualifying, the Gunners needed to put a stop to the negative form building.
When Malard came off the bench and put Man Utd 2-1 up with less than 10 minutes to go on Friday, it looked like they wouldn't be able to do that – but then Lacasse came up with an outstanding strike to ensure they made the long journey back to London with a point.
The manner in which the draw was achieved will make it feel like a win, too, and certainly give Arsenal a bit of a feel good factor after a difficult few weeks.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: The Gunners' new faces
That said, there are still plenty of things for Arsenal to work on. Following the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool last week, Eidevall made six changes to his team on Friday night, including two in the back three. Ilestedt was brought in for a full WSL debut and Laia Codina made her first appearance for the Gunners in any competition since joining from Barcelona in August.
Both players had demanding summers, Ilestedt and Sweden reaching the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup while Codina helped Spain to win the whole thing. The disrupted pre-seasons they've had as a result was evident on Friday, with a lack of sharpness making it a difficult evening for both.
Codina made a couple of errors that, fortunately for her, United were unable to punish, including a mistimed interception in the second half that gave Geyse a great chance. Ilestedt, meanwhile, was caught out massively by Gabby George's ball over the top to Galton, the same one which D'Angelo failed to clear as United capitalised to level the scores. The Swede didn't cover herself in glory for the second goal, either, with her caught napping by Malard.
With Russo also struggling to make an impact on the game up front, while having her every touched booed by the home fans following her switch from Man Utd to Arsenal in the summer, it wasn't a great game for most of the new signings that Arsenal are trying to fit into the team – Lacasse aside.
GettyWINNER: Stina Blackstenius
When Arsenal brought in Russo over the summer, it was assumed that she and Blackstenius would compete for the same centre forward spot most of the time. That theory was backed up by the Gunners' first three games of the season, one of the pair starting each fixture before being replaced by other later on in the match.
However, if it looked like Russo had become Arsenal's first choice No.9, that changed on Friday when head coach Jonas Eidevall opted to pick both in his starting XI as his team lined up in the 3-5-2.
Blackstenius immediately justified her recall, too, bursting down the left wing and breaking the deadlock with a brilliantly composed finish with only 14 minutes on the clock. The Swede has had her critics during her time in England but she's also come up big for the Gunners on several occasions and they always look a more threatening team when she's on the pitch.
GettyLOSER: Sabrina D'Angelo
Since joining Arsenal in January, D'Angelo has struggled to take fellow goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger's place in the Arsenal team, starting a handful of games but with her Austrian team-mate largely getting the nod.
On Friday, though, D'Angelo got her first start of the season and an opportunity to impress. Sadly, it didn't go to plan.
After being largely untested in the first half, the Canada international raced out of her goal just before the half hour mark to deal with a long ball over the top that had caught out defender Amanda Ilestedt. Instead of clearing the ball in the routine fashion she looked primed to, D'Angelo completely mis-kicked it and gave Man Utd winger Galton an open goal to finish into to equalise.
As the old cliche goes, it's not one she'll want to see back.
