Arsenal put brakes on Manchester City’s WSL title surge thanks to Smith strike | OneFootball

This 1-0 defeat of Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium was never going to be a statement of ­Arsenal’s title intentions – City’s lead at the top is just too big – but a result against the likely champions still had huge value, mentally and in terms of the race for Champions League football.

It would take the most almighty of collapses for City to lose their grip on a second league title, 10 years after their first. They are still eight points clear of ­Manchester United and 10 ahead of Arsenal, who have a game in hand over those around them.

Andrée Jeglertz, their manager, said he is “not worried about the future” after this result. “It’s not going to affect the players. We are fully aware of the situation we are in and we are still in a very good position in the league. We are still confident in what we have done so far. It’s important how you analyse this game and move on as quickly as possible.”

Up until a fortnight ago, Renée Slegers’s side, who held on after Olivia Smith’s goal, had struggled against other top‑four teams this season. Until their 2-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, they had collected three points from four Women’s Super League games against City, United and Chelsea, with a defeat by City in the reverse fixture and draws in the others.

The Gunners have looked a dif­ferent side since riding out a slow start to the calendar year, this game against City and the defeat of Chelsea sandwiching their victory in the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup.

On their rejuvenation, Slegers said: “Players getting a rest, a break, mentally, physically, has done us really, really well because of course there was a big tournament last summer with a high load on players. There’s a couple of tactical tweaks that we’ve been working on that have clicked really well. Then, the players’ investment is so high at the moment.

“There’s a lot of things going into why we’re doing well at the moment and we said we want to write it down, make it specific, make it tangible, because then we know what it is and we can keep on going.”

There was some home wariness before this clash, though, with Jeglertz’s team having humbled the WSL title holders Chelsea last week, with the Brazilian forward Kerolin scoring a hat-trick in the 5-1 win.

City’s attacking talent is difficult to contain, Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Kerolin forming a formidable front three and the former Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema shining in the No 10 role.

The home team started the brighter, snapping at the heels of their counterparts. They were hungrier, quicker to second balls and physical in their press.

One way to stop City’s domineering attack is to not let them have much of the ball and, for much of the game, that was a super-­effective strategy. Defensively, ­Arsenal were superb, Lotte Wubben‑Moy and Steph Catley’s centre-back partnership really starting to flourish, and allowing for Leah ­Williamson to be eased back in following her absence through injury. She came on with six minutes remaining.

It was in defence where City were lacking and how they were undone for the only goal. Mariona Caldentey played a one‑two with Kim Little before ­sending a beautifully weighted ball through to Smith. The centre‑back Rebecca Knaak could not keep pace with the Canada international, who shrugged clear of her half‑hearted challenge and rounded the goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita before rolling into the empty net.

It was a beautifully worked goal and Arsenal should have extended their lead as time ticked on: Alessia Russo twice went close in quick succession, forcing a smart save.

They were lucky too, ­Caldentey inexplicably not penalised for ­bringing down Lauren Hemp on the edge of the area when the England forward had only Daphne van Domselaar to beat.

“I haven’t seen it afterwards, so I don’t know,” Jeglertz said of the incident. “In the moment I was very frustrated because I really felt that it was a clear free-kick but the fourth official was saying that it was still played but touched the ball.”

There was another heart-in-mouth moment with just over 10 minutes remaining. Miedema collected Yui Hasegawa’s through ball only to lose her footing, before pulling back Katie McCabe as she recovered and slid the ball into the net, but it was ruled out for the foul.

Arsenal rode their luck and the risk of City punishing their early profligacy was constant but, try as they might, the visiting team could not find a way through and on the full‑time ­whistle the home crowd rose to their feet and celebrated – content with temporarily denting City’s run, even if, surely, unable to wrestle the trophy from them.

Header image: [Photograph: Harry Murphy/Getty Images]