Match Review: Manchester United Women 2-2 Arsenal Women
A tasty home fixture for United, hosting rivals Arsenal and THE BETRAYER Alessia Russo 😂 (I'm joking, relax)
Social media outrage at United fans booing Lessi has been a bit silly. She went to a rival team, that's fine for us to boo. I - and I'm sure many others - still rate her as a top player. There's a balance between the pantomime of football rivalry (good) and abuse (bad). We'll allow the former and condemn the latter, but lets not get all prissy about being too similar to the men's game when most of the criticism of women's football is that there's a lack of passion or investment. This is fans invested, seeing someone they backed now against them.
And breathe. Drama aside it was a fairly even match at Leigh Sports Village, though realistically Arsenal will perhaps feel a little aggrieved not to come away with the three points given the chances they had.
Blundell and George, the full backs, did seem to be targeted by Aston Villa and it's no surprise that Arsenal would do the same. Ona Batlle's RB spot is a tough vacancy to fill, and Gabby George will need time to settle in after returning to United from Everton. Thankfully for them, the CB pairing of Millie Turner and Maya Le Tissier (above) is top draw, and with Mary Earps in net behind them they can be confident of getting help should they make a mistake.
Mistakes do happen though, and Blundell was punished on the flank as Arsenal bagged their first through Blackstenius. Galton (thankfully recovered from a knock at Villa) capitalised on a mistake by D'Angelo to even the first half out, and the United front three of Galton, Geyse and Garcia is going to be a big threat to teams this season, but so might Lyon loanee Melvine Malard. Her incredible acceleration lost her marker late on and saw her dart into the box to poke home a cheeky finish. United then went and conceded a worldie from Cloe Lacasse in the dying minutes. Damn.
The match stats confirm it was a fairly even game. United edged possession with 53%, but only earned 3 corners to Arsenal's 6. The Gunners had 17 shots to United's 9, though both sides managed 4 shots on target - a degree of wastefulness that Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall will likely want to resolve quickly.
United also committed more fouls - 7 to Arsenal's 4 - and that's perhaps indicative of the slightly better technical base Arsenal have. There's a reason they regularly vie with Chelsea for titles, and they looked strong even with a few absences through injury. Katie Zelem and Hannah Blundell seemed to struggle with the pace and passing of Arsenal, but we'll see if that's to be a longer term problem.
Truthfully, 4 points from our first 2 games is a good return for a team that wants to be competitive at home and in the Champions League. A weakened Arsenal is still tough. Villa away is tough. I'm not going to get giddy and predict a title or a trophy, but if we can keep this form up then we'll be in the mix, and it's staying that competitive that gives you a shot at the silverware.
