WSL title race back on as Arsenal end Man City’s unbeaten run with stunning late comeback
Stina Blackstenius scored twice in the dying minutes to help Arsenal beat Man City and breathe life into the title race – Getty Images/Matt McNulty
Manchester City 1 Arsenal 2
Jonas Eidevall did his biggest rival, Emma Hayes, a huge favour as Arsenal’s stunning late comeback at Manchester City gave Chelsea renewed hope of lifting a fifth consecutive Women’s Super League title.
Hayes had somewhat prematurely conceded the title on Wednesday after her side’s chaotic 4-3 loss at Liverpool left Manchester City needing just four points from their final two fixtures to guarantee winning their first title since 2016, but Arsenal’s dramatic intervention has changed the complexion of the race yet again.
For 89 minutes on Sunday afternoon, Manchester City were on course to keep their destiny in their own hands, but Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius had other ideas. The second-half substitute scored twice in three pivotal minutes, winning the game with a header from fellow substitute Kim Little’s glorious 92nd-minute cross. The 28-year-old had equalised by poking home instinctively after a bit of pin-ball in the penalty area, following the hosts failing to clear a corner. Both of her goals will have been celebrated with vigour by Chelsea supporters.
Asked how it felt to give Chelsea and Hayes a boost, Eidevall could not resist a wry smile, but said: “Those are the things that we can’t really control. It’s not really any of my business who is going to win the league at the moment.”
Manchester City remain top of the table but the title could now be decided on goal difference, if Chelsea – who have a game in hand at Tottenham on Wednesday May 15 – take maximum points from their remaining games and if Manchester City win at Aston Villa on the season’s final day. City currently have a goal difference of 45, Arsenal’s is 39.
City’s manager Gareth Taylor said: “They opened the door the other night and we’ve opened the door back again a little bit. It is what it is.
“I’ve always thought the [race] will go to the final day. Nothing is going to change. I never changed my thought process on what the other ones are doing. Of course it would have been nice to have won the game today but we’ve got another opportunity now at Villa and we need to win the game first and hope that’s enough to secure us the title.”
Until Blackstenius’s intervention, Manchester City’s afternoon looked set to be nothing but a celebratory one, on the day of club captain Steph Houghton’s final home fixture for the club she has been at for more than 10 years. The former England skipper, who is retiring at the end of the season, did not get on the pitch, but was the first person that winger Lauren Hemp ran to acknowledge after angling home the game’s opening goal on 17 minutes. Hemp’s low finish came after skilful play from Mary Fowler, in a first half where the home side’s quality in possession was telling and holding midfielder Yui Hasegawa was dictating the game.
Then on came Scottish magician Little into Arsenal’s midfield for the second half and the match was eventually turned on its head, as she helped Blackstenius inflict a first league loss on Manchester City since mid-November, ending their remarkable run of 14 straight league victories.
Arsenal have now completed a league double over Manchester City this term, following his side’s 2-1 win in the reverse fixture at Borehamwood six months ago to the day, which had been the most recent league game in which anybody had managed to score twice against City.
“I truly feel we can beat any team in the world, if we get our things right, we are that good,” said Eidevall. “What we need to fix is some details around us being able to be more consistent.”
Match details
Manchester City (4-3-3): Keating 7; Casparij 7 (Kennedy 6, 87), Aleixandri 7, Greenwood 7, Ouahabi 6; Park 6, Hasegawa 7, Coombs 7 (Angeldahl 6, 57); Fowler 6, Kelly 6, Hemp 7 Subs not used: Stokes, Houghton, Morgan, Pritchard, Blindkilde Brown, Mace, Startup (gk)
Yellow cards: Ouahabi, Coombs, Hemp
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Zinsberger 6; Fox 6 (Catley 7, 63), Williamson 6, Codina 6, McCabe 6 (Wienroither 6, 82); Pelova 6, Cooney-Cross 7 (Blackstenius 8, 62) Mead 6, Maanum 6 (Little 8, 45), Lacasse (Foord 6, 63); Russo 6 Subs not used: D’Angelo (gk), Goldie, Agyemang, Reid
Yellow cards: Lacasse
Referee: Rebecca Welch (Tyne & Wear)
Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles – and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.