Manchester City Women Triumph in 5 goal thriller over Arsenal as WSL title race heats up

Arsenal Women’s poor start to the season continued last weekend as Manchester City delivered a statement with a 3-2 win at the Joie Stadium.

The game started well for City, with a trademark Bunny Shaw header in the first half, assisted by in form Kerstin Casparij. Mariona Caldentey made it 1-1 just after half time with a lovely edge of the box finish, but it was quickly followed by Casparij again, after a scramble in the box from an Alex Greenwood corner. Chloe Kelly thought she had dealt the final blow when she equalised in the 83rd minute with a rocket of a strike outside the box, but 19 year old winger Iman Beney secured all 3 points for the Manchester side in the 88th, after a Bunny Shaw lob found her free in the box to place it in the bottom corner.

The 3 points taken from Arsenal puts City in 2nd in the Women’s Super League

After starting the season with a tight 2-1 loss to current title holders Chelsea, City couldn’t afford to drop any more points, as Manager Andree Jeglertz commented after. “We lost against Chelsea so we needed this to also make sure that when we play these teams again, we believe we can win.” Faith in his team seems to be the most important thing for him, as he stated, “The game was won by us keeping on believing. Even when they made it 1-1, then 2-2, the team was still believing that we would create more goalscoring chances… that belief is a key thing.”

The 3 points taken from Arsenal puts City in 2nd in the Women’s Super League, just 1 point behind major rival Chelsea, whilst Arsenal trail in 5th place, after zero wins in their last 3 matches, a substandard start after their Champions League win this summer, and a transfer window that saw the first ever £1 million player Olivia Smith bolster their ranks. Head Coach Renee Slegers expressed, “We are very disappointed with the result. We were disappointed with the United and Villa results as well… But we know how much strength we have in this squad. When we are in pressured situations or we know we have to come back from things, we know we can.”

Early results suggest this could be one of the most unpredictable campaigns in recent years

This game was highly anticipated for both teams as all eyes were on Chloe Kelly, who was making her return to Manchester after a reported falling out with City’s then manager Gareth Taylor, causing her to leave for Arsenal. Kelly didn’t hold back on her ill feelings for the club, as she celebrated wildly after scoring, tapping the Gunners badge and shouting ‘my club’. Also, late in the match, with Arsenal trailing 3-2, Kelly barged into ex-teammate Leila Ouahabi before turning to the camera and pointing at the Arsenal badge again.

After the game, she also took to social media after a Manchester City fan account posted a picture of her celebration, asking ‘What’s the score Chloe?’, after being understandably irritated by her over-the-top celebrations. She replied to this very simply with a picture of her with the Champions League trophy from the summer, letting her achievements do the talking.

The WSL table is shaping up very differently to how it finished last year, with Tottenham Hotspur the dark horses of the league, winning 4 out of 5 games so far, putting them 3rd, a huge difference to their 11th place when the 24/25 season finished in May.

London City Lionesses, as the newly promoted team are also impressing, in 7th place, above many WSL veteran teams such as Villa and Everton, and Chelsea remain at the top of the league, although City and United will be hoping to change that and break their 6 year streak of league winners.

With the first 5 games out of the way, and the 25/26 season shaping up to be an exciting one, early results suggest this could be one of the most unpredictable campaigns in recent years.