On Wednesday night, after Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat of Bayern Munich, Katie McCabe hobbled out of the Emirates Stadium on crutches, her swollen foot in a boot. After she had come off injured in that Champions League clash, Jonas Eidevall said McCabe told him “straight away that she was going to play Sunday”.
He was sceptical, but better-than-anticipated scans and a large injection ensured that she would be ready for a critical game against Manchester City in what is shaping up to be a thrilling four-way title race. McCabe would not just be fit to play, but she would unleash a rocket of a shot into the top corner as Arsenal came from behind to earn a 2-1 win. She wore a boot that had a stud hole ripped through the fabric from the battle against Bayern on Wednesday night.
“My foot wasn’t good on Wednesday, I have to say,” the Republic of Ireland captain said. “It was absolutely rattled. Our medical team have done an unbelievable job on the turnaround. I think my foot has been in ice for the last four days trying to get [the] swelling down. It’s well padded up. It still works.”
Jelena Cankovic and Guro Reiten struck in the first half and Sam Kerr netted her 50th WSL goal in the 56th minute as Chelsea cantered to a 3-0 win away to Aston Villa to leapfrog them.
At the other end of the table, Carrie Jones scored the winner six minutes into second-half stoppage time to lift Leicester City off the bottom thanks to a 2-1 win over Reading.
The win puts the Foxes in 11th place in the 12-team league with 10 points from 17 games, one more than bottom side Brighton, who occupy the automatic relegation spot but have two games in hand.
Elsewhere, Everton notched a 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur, while city rivals Liverpool secured a scoreless draw away to West Ham United.
It was a performance that was symbolic of Arsenal’s gutsiness in the face of mounting games and a mounting injury list, added to when Caitlin Foord was forced off in the 36th minute. “We didn’t even have her out kicking long balls yesterday just to save her foot,” Eidevall said of McCabe. “Then, she manages to play 80 minutes on that yellow card, which was extremely harsh, and then she tops it off with that goal.”
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Eidevall made two changes to the side that beat Bayern to earn progression to the Champions League semi-finals, with Lotte Wubben-Moy coming in for the injured Kim Little, and Leah Williamson shifting into midfield, while Sabrina D’Angelo lined up in goal. McCabe, though, was fit to start.
For City, there were no changes to the side that earned a 2-0 victory against Chelsea, the Women’s Super League title holders, last weekend. Gareth Taylor’s side had been served a healthy dollop of luck in their quest for a first title since 2016, with the visit of Chelsea and trip to Arsenal coming after gruelling Champions League tests for the London teams.
Taylor played down that advantage after the defeat at Borehamwood. “Everyone keeps talking about that,” he said. “Me, personally, I love playing every three or four days, I don’t think that should be an excuse. That’s when you see the best of players, players prefer to play than train, so I don’t see it as being a big issue.”
No matter how motivated you are, playing against better rested and recovered bodies has an impact and that was evident early on at a sold-out Meadow Park. City came at the hosts with the same intensity they did Chelsea, with Yui Hasegawa pulling the strings in the middle. The goal came early and it was unstoppable, with Chloe Kelly’s cross from the left whipped in for Khadija Shaw to powerfully turn in.
It was impressive that the home team managed to restrict City to a one-goal lead going into the break, with City going close again through Shaw, who nodded wide from another Kelly cross. Lauren Hemp then launched an effort over the bar from close range at the far post.
Eidevall had talked about the importance of “staying focused” amid tough back-to-back games. Arsenal did that at Meadow Park, counterintuitively seeming less fatigued in the second half than they did in the first. Just past the hour mark, the patience paid off. Stina Blackstenius rounded Steph Houghton and pinged the ball into a packed middle, City failed to clear and Frida Maanum turned in from close range.
Arsenal were in the ascendancy and, after a triple substitution to inject some energy into the revitalised home team, and switch to a back three, with Jen Beattie in the middle tasked with stopping balls in to Shaw, Maanum forced a fingertip save from Ellie Roebuck.
The resulting corner was played short to McCabe and she skated to the edge of the box before powering the ball high into the far corner, moving the hosts to within three points of Manchester United and level on 38 points with City having played one game fewer.
“We played Chelsea twice, Bayern Munich twice, City, Tottenham away … we just kept putting our left foot in front of the right foot and thinking of the next action, thinking of solutions, of sticking in the game,” Eidevall said.
“These situations may have been a problem in the past but now it feels like we’re thriving in them instead. When we speak about creating culture and mentality, this team showed the world in this block here what they are made of.”
