Here’s your report from Tom Garry at Leigh Sports Village. And that’s where I’ll leave this live blog today. Thanks very much for joining, always a pleasure never a chore.
Millie Turner was named the player of the match and politely tells the interviewer it was a draw and not “a big win for Manchester United”, as the interviewer said.
“It feels a lot different this season,” she says. “We’ve got to keep calm and just see where it takes us.” And she reveals the POTM award is going straight on her mantlepiece.
Does Slegers want the permanent job? Now that’s a question she doesn’t seem so comfortable asking. Some ducking and diving and fair enough.
Slegers is with the BBC for a post-match chat:
We created really good momentum and that’s why we’re disappointed. We wanted to be ruthless in both boxes… a lot of positives but we’re disappointed we didn’t get all three points. The players want to play a certain type of football. It’s the Arsenal way, we call it.
On goalscorer Russo:
Alessia is a fantastic player but I see her working really hard every day. She’s fantastic to work with.
Skinner gets his United players in a big huddle on the pitch after the final whistle. He’ll be delighted with the character they showed this afternoon.
As for Arsenal, they’ll be happy with their performance, if not the result. The signs under Renée Slegers have been good, for sure.
FT: Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
That’s it. The finale of that game did not disappoint, with chances at both ends.
Manchester United have salvaged a point and kept their unbeaten WSL record this season intact in the process. Alessio Russo’s goal against her former club looked like it had deservedly clinched all three points for Arsenal. But after a number of changes from Marc Skinner, United found a route back into it, via Melvine Malard’s deft header from a corner.
Cheeky flick on from Malard and a celebration to match 🕺#BarclaysWSL @ManUtdWomen pic.twitter.com/KKpMUpmw0M
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) November 3, 2024
Updated
90 min + 5: United are finishing the game strongly, with Geyse really impressive since coming onto the right flank. She’s got dazzlingly fast feet.
Can they conjure up a final chance?
90 min + 3: Tullis-Joyce clutches on gratefully after a Williamson header at goal.
90 min + 2: United have shown far more adventure and endeavour since scoring – but don’t write off Arsenal. They’ve got themselves a corner.
It’s a record LSV attendance of 8,348 for this game, the PA have just announced.
Six minutes of added time. Nice.
89 min: United will actually feel they can nick all three points. Another corner from the right is swung in by George but Van Domselaar claims this one well under pressure.
88 min: McCabe is lucky not to be sent off! She should really have picked up two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for a foul and then for some afters with Geyse – she kicked the ball away in that fracas too. Tetchy stuff.
86 min: Arsenal have to put their hurt pride behind them and find another goal from somewhere. They’re pushing forward again.
It would help to have Russo still on the pitch right about now, wouldn’t it?
84 min: This would be a robbery, let me tell you. But United won’t care.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal (Malard, 82)
They can! Would you believe it? It’s flicked home Malard from the corner!
In classic Manchester United fashion, the two substitutes combine from the corner, with Williams rising to get the first header and Malard flicking it in with the top of her head past a helpless goalkeeper. Incredible.
Updated
82 min: Geyse wins United a corner. They couldn’t… could they?
81 min: United are at least getting up the pitch a little now, helped by the hold-up play and physicality of Malard, as well as Le Tissier’s drive.
80 min: There’s a furrowed brow from Leah Williamson and some complaints from the Arsenal coaching staff following a hefty challenge from Williams. Williamson ended up flying into the dugout after that.
78 min: Terland and Bizet are replaced by Geyse and Rachel Williams.
And there’s a mixed reception from the United fans as Russo is replaced for Arsenal by Blackstenius. I must say I find that change odd. Russo has been the best player on the pitch.
77 min: The crowd aren’t happy after a rare United foray forward is halted in its tracks by a challenge on Terland. There’s very little for the hosts to cheer about.
Skinner is readying Geyse on the bench.
75 min: Someone tell United they actually need a goal. They’re still sitting so deep.
73 min: It’s the Arsenal fans who are making themselves heard at LSV. “Meado!” they chant, serenading the England star after a nifty turn.
72 min: Arsenal work it brilliantly from back to front, with Fox continuing to make the kind of sniping out-to-in runs that have troubled United all afternoon. Williamson has been a Rolls Royce bringing the ball out from the back.
70 min: Very little has changed since the goal. It’s still endless Arsenal pressure with United just about hanging on defensively.
The goal that separates the two sides:
Scoring at a ground she knows so well 🙌
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) November 3, 2024
Russo slots it home for @ArsenalWFC!#BarclaysWSL pic.twitter.com/P5yQKDM37k
66 min: Marc Skinner looks pensive in the United dugout and well he might. His team just haven’t had the answers to Arsenal today.
65 min: United are fortunate, in a sense, that the goal has come with time left on the clock. They’ll still believe they can forge a way back into the game.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal (Russo, 63)
It had to be her! Alessia Russo finally gets her goal – although she doesn’t celebrate very much, just a smile and a nod.
It was another flowing Arsenal move, with a superb cut-back by Fox, who had picked up Caldentey’s ball in space, with Russo stroking it home from close-range.
Updated
Understatement of the day:
Ella Toone doesn’t look very happy about that
— The Busby Babe (@TheBusbyBabe) November 3, 2024
61 min: United need to change things, so Skinner is bringing on Riviere and Malard.
That’s another underwhelming display from Ella Toone, who is going off with a face like thunder. Mannion also trudges off.
60 min: Le Tissier gives it away cheaply but then doggedly wins it back to keep her side level. Fair play to her.
59 min: McCabe sends it in left footed and Arsenal keep it alive, piling on the pressure now with United camped inside their own 18-yard area.
It just never stops. All hands on deck.
57 min: Turner is booked for a blatant shirt-tug on Russo, who was steaming down the right and into the box. Can Arsenal capitalise with this set-piece opportunity?
55 min: Walti unleashes a powerful left-footed pile-driver which is not far away at all. Arsenal are getting closer.
54 min: McCabe’s cute backheel sets away Foord, racing down the left flank. United don’t fully clear it and are right under the cosh here.
52 min: Mead, wearing No 9 on her back but playing as a scheming inside-right forward, has already made an impact off the bench. I don’t think Maanum was playing particularly poorly but it just shows the quality in this Arsenal squad.
50 min: That’s Russo’s fourth or possibly fifth effort of the game, this time heading straight at Tullis-Joyce. She coud have got more power on that.
49 min: There’s just no rest for United here. Every time they win it back, they’re met with a vicious press. Arsenal have started the second half with intent.
47 min: Slick stuff again from Arsenal, a neat move which ends with Russo spinning and shooting just wide. Her miss is greeted with ironic United cheers.
Second half: What does the next 45 minutes have in store?
The United fans at LSV will be desperate for more attacking fluency from their side, with Ella Toone particularly disappointing in that first half. Her old mucker Alessia Russo has been Arsenal’s, and arguably the game’s most threatening player.
Both teams have introduced half-time substitutes, with Simi Awujo coming on for United and Beth Mead for Arsenal. The home team have taken off Naaslund while Maanum is sacrificed for the visitors. Interesting.
This could be tasty.
A reminder of today’s full fixture list with plenty more action to enjoy.
A busy day of #BarclaysWSL action ahead! 💪 pic.twitter.com/Td0vYaNPjD
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) November 3, 2024
HALF TIME
0-0 at the break. United’s defence has held out.
Arsenal will be bemused that they’ve not found a way through, albeit Tullis-Joyce hasn’t made a serious save of note. United need to far more in forward areas to trouble the Gunners’ goal.
Updated
45 min: Arsenal are asking lots of questions – and one of those is of referee Kirsty Dowle, with McCabe adamant she was pulled back in the box.
43 min: The chances have dried up ever since I wrote that the game needs a goal. Sorry.
40 min: Le Tissier has been waving her arms around in defence, trying to direct her players with United struggling to play through Arsenal right now.
39 min: United’s shape has looked more like a 4-2-4 at times, which explains why Arsenal are getting so much joy down the flanks. The Gunners’ system looks far more fluid, with the likes of Maanum and Ford drifting dangerously into the channels.
36 min: Tullis-Joyce does well in the United goal. It was an awkward piece of handling, probably from her own player’s touch, George.
34 min: We need a goal in this game. Arsenal look far more likely to break the deadlock, but United are not lacking in effort or desire.
Terland does eventually get a headed chance away at goal, meeting Bizet’s deep cross. Van Domselaar makes a straightforward stop.
31 min: Clinton is perhaps trying too hard, or are Arsenal just marshalling her well in midfield? She’s been caught in possession a couple of times.
30 min: Big headed chance for Terland. No? Well, the whistle has gone but I’m not quite sure what for. Offside or a small shove? Hmm.
At the other end, Maanum skews an effort over the bar. End to end now.
28 min: Maanum is at the centre of everything good Arsenal are doing… but her touch just eludes her at the vital moment there, trying to collect a Kim Little pass.
27 min: Turner again clears for United! But no woman of an Arsenal persuasion was ready to turn home that ball in the six-yard box. Maanum then directs a header just wide.
The BBC commentators are rightly saying that Arsenal have turned the screw and are now right on top.
25 min: Sensational play by Maanum, teasing down the left and sending in a tantalising cross that is begging to be nodded home. Turner takes no chance for United and flicks it over her own crossbar.
23 min: Aoife Mannion shields well for United, a vital piece of defending to keep out McCabe.
22 min: Clinton is bemused as a throw-in decision goes against her and United. Lisa Naalsund has played a couple of lovely diagonal passes.
With almost 20 minutes on the clock it’s still really hard to call this one.
Arsenal have offered more quality in possession and have probably had the better chances through Russo, but United are being backed by a very healthy home crowd at Leigh Sports Village and have shown flashes of how dangerous they can be. They need Clinton to be more involved.
17 min: United have become a bit purposeless on the ball and Arsenal’s mobile and industrious front players are trying to take advantage. United look much better when they go more direct.
15 min: It’s quite mad that neither Toone nor Russo have scored a goal in the WSL yet this season.
That could well change today.
13 min: Russo is looking dangerous. She’s gone close again, working it onto her stronger right foot and sending it just over the bar, via a vital Millie Turner deflection. Two big chances for the England striker already.
11 min: Just as Charles says that, Arsenal are coming more into the game.
They’ve got a good free-kick position here, which McCabe sends into a great area but nobody can meet.
Arsenal fan Charles Antaki gets in touch on email with a prediction:
A loss unless Leah Williamson and Beth Mead recapture their best form – they were pretty poor in the England game (though not the only ones, to be sure). Williamson especially seems to have lost the sureness of her touch, which is a worry given the excellence of her passing, especially the incisive ones that open up chances. In the team as a whole, Mariona Caldentey sometimes looks a bit puzzled by the wastefulness of those around her; not a great start.
8 min: And it’s Russo who goes close for the visitors after smartly picking up a loose throw, tuning into an alarming amount of space and whizzing it just wide.
6 min: Toone lines up a shot from distance but she never really got hold of it. There are some boos for her old mate Alessia Russo, who left United for Arsenal of course.
4 min: A bit slicker and quicker from United and Gabby George wins a corner for his overlapping efforts down the left.
The kick is high and deep and Turner heads it off a defender for another corner, which … is well defended by Arsenal.
3 min: Arsenal have started slightly more confidently on the ball, with Caldentey trying to turn away from trouble a couple of times, albeit it’s been a slow start to the game with a succession of throw-ins.
KICK OFF
Here we go, here we go, here we go.
The two teams are out and we’re almost ready to rock.
Where’s your money? The draw looks favourite to me.
Toone, Russo, Mead, Williamson, Clinton, Le Tissier … there’s lots of Lionesses interest in the two teams today.
Renée Slegers isn’t keen on looking too far ahead as she speaks to the BBC before the game. “For me it’s only about this game here and now, I just wanna play the game against Manchester United.”
Classic interim speak.
Celin Bizet will be an interesting one to watch for United today. She’s been deployed at right-back at times this season but looks set to return to a more familiar forward-thinking role on the wing this afternoon. Her deliveries into the box and a telepathic understanding with Elisabeth Terland have been a big part of United’s strong start to the campaign.
If men’s football is more your bag, there are some good reads on the website about Arsenal and Manchester United’s struggles. I particularly enjoyed these two.
Here’s the Arsenal perspective on today’s game, with interim head coach Renée Slegers providing some much needed balance and momentum after a shaky start to the campaign.
Manchester United have conceded only just goal in the WSL this season – by far the best defensive record in the division. And today’s game will be head coach Marc Skinner’s 100th game in charge of United.
“I feel there’s been a lot of growth in that time,” he said. “I’m really proud to represent Manchester United. I want to be successful here for another 100 games and to do that we’ve got to win games, so although it’s a fantastic milestone for me personally, I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been.
“We’ve started the season fantastically well but we’re going to face a team that could either be wounded and really want to show that, or a team that we could hopefully try and take advantage of, but they’re going to be very difficult to play against.”
Today's game will be Marc Skinner's 100th game in charge 💯👏#MUWomen pic.twitter.com/WmeMJBQpiN
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 3, 2024
Team news
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce; Turner, Le Tissier, Mannion, George; Naaslund, Janssen, Clinton; Toone, Bizet, Terland.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Riviere, Awujo, Ladd, Miyazawa, Watson, Geyse, Malard, Williams
Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, Walti; Caldentey, Little, McCabe, Maanum; Foord, Russo.
Subs: Zinsberger, Codina, Reid, Kuhl, Cooney-Cross, Mead, Kafaji, Hurtig, Blackstenius
Updated
Preamble
If Arsenal surprised a few people because of their slow start to this WSL season, then Manchester United have been surprise packages for all the right reasons this term. So there’s no shortage of talking points as the two lock horns at Leigh Sports Village in today’s early kick-off.
The visitors are looking for a third win from three games under interim head coach, Renée Slegers, who by all accounts has brought “new energy” to Arsenal after the departure of Jonas Eidevall. United, meanwhile, are unbeaten, albeit having played just four games to the Gunners’ five; they do arguably have one of the league’s most in-form and exciting players in England’s Grace Clinton, as well as on-song striker Elisabeth Terland.
It’s all set up for a cracking contest, which kicks off at 12.30pm UK time. We’ll run through the confirmed lineups in the next post. Stay tuned.
