Credit: Getty Images/Arsenal.com
At home. To Manchester United.
It doesn’t get much worse than this, in terms of ending an amazing 14-games win streak.
Maybe Manchester United didn’t deserve to snatch the whole three points but they didn’t deserve to lose, for sure. From our side, we looked disjointed and insecure: we couldn’t keep hold of the ball, distances were far too big, and we didn’t truly find our groove throughout the game.
We looked surprisingly shaky and disconnected for at least 30 minutes, during which Manchester United dominated the game and knocked several times at our door, only for Manuela Zinsberger to push them back. The simultaneous absences of Rafaelle, Leah Williamson and Kim Little had a lot to do with us being unable to dictate the play and the tempo but Manchester United were very aggressive and got a deserved lead through Toone, who just had to tap the ball in the net after a ill-judged high claim from Manuela Zinsberger.
Yes, we were starting to look better but I don’t agree with those writing that the visitors’ goal came against the run of play.
Luckily enough, and also because of the introduction of Vivianne Miedema, we looked much better at the restart and found a quick response through Frida Maanum’s long-distance effort, which took a big deflection on its way to the far post and trumped Earps. As soon as we leveled the score, we looked a much stronger, organized team and started to put Manchester United under pressure.
Some choices in the final third could have been better and create greater dangers for Earps but we deservedly completed our comeback halfway through the second half, when Laura Wienroither converted a magnificent pass from Katie McCabe.
At that moment in time, it looked like we had won the game for good but, as we couldn’t slow down the play, we allowed Manchester United to get into the game and land a double hit to take the three points. Jonas Eidevall was very disappointed with the “two uncontested headers” that led to the late turnaround, but truth is that Manuela Zinsberger had to produce a couple of great saves to delay the inevitable as Manchester United pushed forward.
There are many reasons to feel disappointed with this result: we wasted a great opportunity to consolidate our place at the top of the table, allowing both Manchester United and Chelsea to catch us; we lost at the Emirates Stadium, in front of 40’000 supporters and we conceded from set-pieces against a team that is known for their deadly deliveries.
The most disappointing take away from Saturday’s loss, though, is Beth Mead’s knee injury: the England forward appeared to have damaged her ACL while chasing a ball that was heading for a throw-in. We don’t know yet how serious the injury is, but the replays were not very reassuring. Hopefully it’s not serious as it looks and Beffi will be back soon.
We need her as well as Rafaelle, Kim Little and Leah Williamson because we might have lost our invincibility, we might have ended our winning streak, we might have lost our place at the top but there is so much to play for, starting with the Champions League away game against Juventus.
Our magical run is over, it’s time to start a new one.
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
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