Arsenal 4-3 Manchester United: Arsenal secure second place in seven-goal thriller | OneFootball

Arsenal pipped Manchester United to second place in the Barclays Women’s Super League with an impressive 4-3 win at the Emirates.

Both teams had already secured Champions League football for next season, but a win for United would have seen them snatch the WSL runner-up spot from Arsenal.

Chloe Kelly put Arsenal in front after just two minutes, but Ella Toone levelled for United ten minutes later. Goals came thick and fast in the second half, with Mariona Caldentey restoring Arsenal’s lead with a penalty before Frida Maanum and Kim Little made it 4-1. Elisabeth Terland pulled one back for United with twenty minutes to go and Maya Le Tissier closed the gap to 4-3 from the penalty spot, but the visitors left their comeback too late.

As it happened

Arsenal had a dream start when a rare error from United keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who mishandled a shot from Alessia Russo, gifted Chloe Kelly the opener. However, their lead was gone in the 13th minute. After Manuela Zinsberger pulled off an excellent save to stop Grace Clinton levelling from range, she couldn’t keep out Ella Toone’s header from the resulting corner.

After a breathless start, the game was fairly quiet for the rest of the first half – but Arsenal came out firing in the second. Just five minutes after the restart, Caldentey slotted home from the spot after Clinton brought down Caitlin Foord in the United area.

Soon after, Frida Maanum doubled their lead after receiving a through ball from Katie McCabe, bagging a goal on her 150th Arsenal appearance.

Arsenal were finally in the rhythm they had struggled to find in their last WSL games (defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton) and captain Kim Little scored their fourth goal of the afternoon just after the hour mark. She was untracked on her run into the box and latched onto a through ball from Kelly. It marked the eighth league game in a row that Renee Slegers’ side scored four or more goals at home.

Despite Arsenal’s dominance, they managed to set themselves up for a dramatic end to the game. With twenty minutes left, McCabe looked to play the ball out from the back but found Elisabeth Terland rather than her teammates. Terland punished her mistake and pulled the score back to 4-2. Just five minutes later, McCabe’s foul on Celin Bizet gave away a penalty, which captain Maya Le Tissier slotted home.

But Arsenal held firm and came away with the win after a strong overall performance in front of their home crowd, which will be a much-needed confidence boost ahead of their Champions League final against Barcelona on 24th May. The result also means third-placed United must go through an extra round of Champions League qualifying to reach the league phase, while Arsenal enter later in the process.

The lineups

ARS: Zinsberger; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Mariona, Little; Kelly, Russo, Foord

MUN: Tullis-Joyce; Le Tissier, Turner, Janssen; Sandberg, Toone, Clinton, Miyazawa, Bizet; Malard, Galton.