Manchester United 2-2 Arsenal: Cloe Lacasse nets dramatic late equaliser after Melvine Malard scores on debut as sides pay tribute to Lady Cathy Ferguson
- Leah Galton opened the scoring after an error from Arsenal’s Sabrina D’Angelo
- The visitors have taken just point from their first two games of the league season
- Lady Cathy Ferguson’s passing was announced in a brief statement on Friday
The talk had been about Alessia Russo’s return to Manchester United. Would she come back to haunt her former club? Could she find a way to kick-start Arsenal’s season and lift the doom and gloom? In the end, it was a different summer signing who dragged the Gunners out of a potential crisis.
Canadian forward Cloe Lacasse came off the bench to score a superb stoppage time equaliser to earn Arsenal their first point of the season as the two sides paid tribute to Lady Cathy Ferguson.
Despite signing a new three-year contract earlier this week, boss Jonas Eidevall had been under pressure coming into Friday night’s game. Arsenal were beaten on the opening day of the season by Liverpool and had crashed out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage.
Chelsea dropped just eight points on the way to lifting last year’s title. This is a league with little margin for error. The Gunners have already dropped four points, but they will just be grateful it is not six.
Both sets of players wore black armbands as a mark of respect towards Ferguson, and, after taking the lead through Stina Blackstenius, two defensive errors gifted Leah Galton and Melvine Malard goals to put United 2-1 ahead.
Cloe Lacasse scored a stunning stoppage time equaliser to ensure Arsenal drew against Manchester United on Friday
Alessia Russo (left) was booed on her return to United after leaving the club to join Arsenal in the summer
The players wore black armbands during the game as a mark of respect following Lady Cathy Ferguson’s passing
Your browser does not support iframes.
It was a mixed return to Leigh Sports Village for Russo, who was booed from the moment she got off the Arsenal bus until the moment she got back on. The forward worked hard and played her part in the first goal, but failed to silence the crowd with a strike of her own.
‘When we look back at it, I think we will be a bit disappointed we did not win the game because we had more clear chances,’ Eidevall said.
‘Maybe we are too greedy when the goal [to equalise] comes in the dying moments of the game. Of course in that situation we are happy with one point but when we look at the game as a whole I think we should have deserved to win the game.’
Leah Galton (pictured) scored for Manchester United against Arsenal on Friday after Stina Blackstenius’ error
Arsenal had tried to sign United’s Mary Earps in the summer but failed and now have a goalkeeping problem
The Gunners opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Steph Catley played in Blackstenius, who out-paced Hannah Blundell before placing a calm finish past Earps.
With so much talk around the battle between David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale to be Mikel Arteta’s No 1, Eidevall is having his own dilemma in the goalkeeping department. Arsenal tried and failed to sign Earps from United in the summer. Manuela Zinsberger’s shaky display against Liverpool saw Eidevall react by dropping the Austrian for Sabrina D’Angelo.
It was one of six changes from the opening day defeat and a big call from the Gunners’ boss – one that did not pay off. In the 27th minute D’Angelo gifted United their equaliser. The goalkeeper came rushing out to clear Gabby George’s over-hit pass but completely missed the ball, leaving Galton with an empty net to finish into.
Russo had two chances to silence the home crowd in the second half, the first was well saved by Earps while the second crashed against the top of the post.
Jonas Eidevall has singed a new long-term deal to remain Arsenal manager but has taken just a point from his first two games of the season
Melvine Malard appeared to have given United all three points on her WSL debut when she netted just minutes from time
It looked as if those missed chances would prove costly when one of United’s new strikers found the net at the other end. There was miscommunication between Amanda Ilestedt and D’Angelo which allowed Malard to stretch out a right boot from behind the defender and poke the ball past the goalkeeper.
That had looked as if it would be the winner until Lacasse’s moment of magic three minutes from time. The forward turned past Blundell before firing an unstoppable shot into the top left corner. Eidevall and the Arsenal bench erupted.
‘We’ve come a long way if Arsenal are celebrating like that at the end,’ United boss Marc Skinner said. ‘It means a lot to get a point at Manchester United now.’
Eidevall knows how crucial that goal could prove to be in both his team’s and indeed his own future.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Source: Read Full Article