City edge WSL Etihad thriller against Arsenal

Less than three days after our UEFA Women’s Champions League draw with Real Madrid, the WSL champions rallied from 2-1 down to make it five wins from five in the league.

The Gunners more than played their part at the Etihad Stadium, with Lisa Baum and Alessia Russo efforts cancelled out by Lauren Hemp and Kerstin Casparij before the former put us ahead with 20 to play.

And Shaw then delivered a knockout blow late on in a captivating tie between two of the WSL’s heavyweights to continue our perfect start to the campaign.

What Happened

A battle between last season’s top two, City knew Arsenal’s lowly position in the table ahead of kick-off wasn’t a true reflection of the danger they’d pose.

Chances were few and far between in the early stages aside from an early Mariona Caldentey header, with City’s first real opportunity seeing Shaw test Anneke Borbe on 25 minutes.

The Blues thought we’d opened the scoring ten minutes later when Borbe spilled the ball into the net under pressure from Shaw, only to see the goal ruled out for a foul, with Yamashita tipping an Emily Fox effort past the post soon after at the other end.

And the visitors would grab the opener on the stroke of half-time when Baum bundled home from a Lotte Wubben-Moy knockdown.

City replied before the break, with patient build-up eventually seeing Hemp’s effort take a deflection off Fox and into the net for 1-1, but Arsenal would regain their lead early in the second half through a vicious curling effort from Russo.

The WSL champions had to weather the storm after the visitors’ second, and Andrée Jeglertz shuffled the pack just after the hour to give City fresh impetus.

It paid off, with Casparij - one of those substitutes – curling home an exquisite equaliser from just inside the area to make it 2-2.

The pendulum had swung again, with Leah Williamson getting a vital touch on a Beney cross to take the ball off the toe of Shaw.

And that pressure would tell with 20 to play when Hemp ghosted in at the far post to meet a Yui Hasegawa cross and sneak an effort in under the onrushing Borbe.

Arsenal threw bodies forward in an attempt to salvage something but in doing so the spaces began to open, and Shaw duly completed the scoring when turning away from Williamson and firing into the corner for a fourth.

100%

City had certainly been tested in the opening weeks of the campaign, but Arsenal perhaps presented the first true challenge of our WSL title defence.

And while at times the Gunners delivered on that pre-match billing, the Blues once again rallied to earn yet another statement win at the Etihad.

Andrée Jeglertz has often mentioned that his team “refuse to lose” and while that’s an inevitability for any side eventually, that mentality has and will serve City well in the coming months.

Indeed, City go into the first international break of the season with a 100% record in the WSL and remain unbeaten in Europe.

Wing Wizard

What more is there to say about City’s number 11?

On the day she moved third in our all-time appearance rankings, Hemp delivered one of many memorable performances in Blue, driving us on in testing circumstances.

Neither goal was as stunning as her strike at the Etihad against Manchester United last November, but that won’t matter to our winger, who’s incredible start to the campaign continued.

Player of the Match: Lauren Hemp

Two goals, one assist, and a tireless 90 minutes from City’s winger.

Balletic brilliance on the ball, relentless tenacity off it.

Her fantastic start to the season continues apace.

		Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1		Manchester City Man City	5	5	0	0	16	6	10	15
2		Chelsea Chelsea	5	4	1	0	12	1	11	13
3		London City Lionesses London City	5	4	0	1	15	5	10	12

What it Means

City remain top of the WSL table after five matches, with a maximum 15 points taken so far.

Chelsea are our nearest rivals on 13, with London City Lionesses a further point behind in third.

How we lined up

City XI: Yamashita, Wamser (Beney 61’), Rose, Greenwood (C), Charles (Casparij 62’), Coffey (Blindkilde Brown 70’), Hasegawa, Mead (Fowler 61’), Fujino (Clinton 90’), Hemp, Shaw.

Subs: Cumings, Wienroither, Prior, Davies.

Arsenal XI: Borbe, Fox (Holmberg 81’), Wubben-Moy, Stanway (Blackstenius 68’), Williamson, Caldentey (Foord 45’), Little (C), Baum (Smith 68’), Batlle (Cerci 81’), Russo, Cooney-Cross

Arsenal Subs: Misa, Catley, Maanum, Reuteler

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Sun 18 Oct

Barclays WSL

Man City

14:30

BST

Brighton

Up next

City take on Brighton & Hove Albion in our next Barclays Women’s Super League clash following the international break.

Kick-off at the Joie Stadium is set for 14:30 (UK) on Sunday 18 October, with the match available to watch live in the United Kingdom on the BBC.

You can also purchase tickets for the clash by clicking here.