A major clash to start off the season for last year’s second and third place teams, as Arsenal took on Manchester City in their opening game at the Emirates.
Arsenal lined up with Manuela Zinsberger in goal, Emily Fox, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Laia Codina and Katie McCabe as the back four, followed by skipper Kim Little and Kyra Cooney-Cross in the middle. Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum and newbie Mariona Caldentey were heading up towards the front, with Stina Blackstenius taking up the striker role. Vice captain Leah Williamson was missing from the squad due to concussion protocol, after sustaining an injury in training on Friday.
Manchester City brought a strong 4-3-3 formation to the game, with a big change in goal compared to normal. Ayaka Yamashita replaced Khiara Keating in the starting lineup, with Keating taking a seat on the bench. Leila Ouahabi, new captain Alex Greenwood, Laia Aleixandri and Kerstin Casparij all took the defence position, while Jess Park, Vivianne Miedema and Yui Hasegawa took their place in the middle, leaving Lauren Hemp, Bunny Shaw and Aoba Fujino in charge of the front.
The game was a big one for Manchester City’s Vivianne Miedema, who transferred from Arsenal in the summer. Fans were heartbroken to see Viv go, so the reality set in when she came out onto the Emirates pitch in blue.
After a handball from Lauren Hemp with just 4 minutes on the clock, Manchester City had a shot, but it was slightly too wide, giving Arsenal a boost of confidence, which came in the form of the players darting the ball across the pitch, and Frida Maanum taking a powerful shot into the back of the net, putting the Gunners ahead.
The first half saw lots of excellent shots, none of which giving the teams what they needed. Manchester City suffered a blow when Leila Ouahabi needed some treatment, and was subbed off straight away, Alanna Kennedy taking her place. It wasn't long though until Vivianne Miedema got one past Zinsberger, making it 1-1 at half time.
The second half started with a goal from Caitlin Foord, but controversially, it was ruled offside. Both teams had many attempts to go ahead, but it wasn't until the 62nd minute where Jess Park took the lead for City. This was then followed by a bunch of substitutions for Arsenal, with Beth Mead and Alessia Russo entering the pitch to add something to the game. A free kick for City and an offside for Arsenal saw more tension rise between the two teams, so when Beth Mead scored the all-important goal to make the teams level, we saw a lot of interesting football, such as Chloe Kelly and Kim Little ending up stuck on the pitch while Katie McCabe jumped over the top of them, delivering the ball to Mead to score her goal. Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall received a yellow card in the same minute as the goal, as well as Alex Greenwood receiving her yellow card for arguing for a foul to the referee, who decided against the foul. Jess Park, Bunny Shaw, Kerstin Casparij and Lauren Hemp also received yellow cards around the same time, due to a number of mistimed tackles and the referee’s decision to not give a foul.
The game ended 2-2, a big result for both teams for many different reasons. City’s manager, Gareth Taylor was “pleased to come away with a point intact. It could've been three but [they] weren't [their] best.”, while Arsenal’s Jonas Eidevall believed that he has “a really, really good squad. [They] managed the game well from a substitution perspective.”
Full time: Arsenal 2 - 2 Manchester City
Attendance: 41,818
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