It was more nervy than it needed to be but Arsenal secured a second-place finish ahead of Manchester United with the win in a seven-goal thriller. A point would have been enough for the home team to earn a place in the third round of qualifying for next season’s Champions League but a three-goal advantage with 20 minutes remaining was reduced to one in the space of six minutes to keep the jeopardy alive and the atmosphere among the 46,603 tense to the finish.
The Manchester United captain, Maya Le Tissier, had said Champions League football was “all that matters” before the tie, but the visiting team fought with the intensity of a team keen to avoid the third round of qualifying and put in a strong performance before their FA Cup final showdown with WSL champions, Chelsea.
For Arsenal, this was a chance to turn things around before a second Champions League final in Lisbon, after two heavy league defeats, to Aston Villa and Brighton, and they did so, their Emirates Stadium send-off in full swing at the final whistle.
The attention before kick-off had been on the home team’s goalkeeper, with their first-choice, Daphne van Domselaar, unavailable through an ankle injury there were doubts about the reliability of backup Manuela Zinsberger. However, it would be Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who will share the golden glove with Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton after the latter kept a clean sheet against Liverpool to draw level, that would make a clanger in the second minute to give their rivals the lead, failing to hold on to Alessia Russo’s ball in that allowed Chloe Kelly to pounce and fire into the empty net.
The mettle of the underfire Zinsberger would be tested soon after, the Austrian rising to tip Ella Toone’s goalbound strike from distance over the bar. It was a confidence-boosting leap but a minute later the visiting team had the equaliser, a whipped-in corner was headed back towards the near post where an unmarked Toone was on hand to nod in, Zinsberger got her fingertips to it but there was little more she could do.
Arsenal retook the lead after the break, Grace Clinton tangling with Caitlin Foord in the box and Mariona Caldentey coolly converting the resulting penalty, sending Tullis-Joyce the wrong way.
Five minutes later and the Gunners had a two-goal advantage, Frida Maanum collecting the ball from Katie McCabe before curling it into the far post from a tight angle.
They should have had another penalty soon after, Celin Bizet almost pushing the ball away with the palm of her hand but the referee waved away the protests. The home team need not have worried, they had the fourth just past the hour mark, Kelly working hard before playing the ball to Kim Little who turned and powered the ball past Tullis-Joyce.
United reduced the deficit with 20 minutes remaining though, McCabe’s passed under pressure straight to Elizabeth Terland whose strike took a deflection off Steph Catley to wrongfoot Zinsberger. The pressure was heaped on soon after, the referee pointing to the spot after McCabe brought down Bizet and Le Tissier hammered it in.
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Buoyed up by the reduced deficit, United piled on the pressure, but the remainder of normal time and seven minutes added on was not enough for them to complete a remarkable turnaround.
The home team secured the bragging rights, but there will be concerns about how easily United were able to climb back into the game with Arsenal cruising. Barcelona, who beat Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate in the Champions League semi finals, await and will pose a far, far sterner test.