Pressure on Arsenal increases as they suffer defeat to Manchester City

Pressure on Arsenal increases as they suffer defeat to Manchester City Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League title hopes were dealt another severe blow as they went down 4-2 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this evening. The Gunners led twice during the game, but ended up coming away with nothing. The North Londoners are now 10 points behind today’s opponents. Arsenal started brightly with forward Alessia Russo trying to make things happen in the final third while Sam Coffey attempted to play in Yui Hasegawa at the other end, but she couldn’t take advantage. Alex Greenwood then attempted to swing the ball to Beth Mead who was in a difficult position to score. Anneke Borbe made an impressive save to deny Khadija Shaw. The Jamaican international moved past The Gunners’ defence with ease before sending an effort from distance straight at the keeper. In the 36th minute, the ball somehow ended up in the back of the net following a collision between Shaw and Borbe. The goal was ruled out for a foul on the keeper. At the other end of the pitch, Emily Fox had a go at goal, but Ayaka Yamashita pulled off the save. Arsenal opened the scoring two minutes before the break through Lisa Baum. Russo picked up a loose ball from a corner and crossed it over to Lotte Wubben-Moy, who headed it back. Baum then stuck the ball into the back of the net. Lauren Hemp produced an equaliser very quickly. She found space to take a shot and sent it into the bottom corner. Russo finally got her goal four minutes into the second half and it was a banger. A rare mistake from Hasegawa saw Russo win the ball and whip it into the corner of the net. Mead then fired over for Manchester City before they found the equaliser through substitute Kerstin Casparij. The ball was knocked into her path and she superbly curled it into the far corner. Manchester City soon made it 3-2 through Hemp. Hasegawa had the space to find her teammate at the far post and she sent the ball through the legs of Borbe. The Cityzens found a fourth goal late on through Shaw. She dragged the ball back and slotted it into the net perfectly. The result leaves Manchester City top of the table while Arsenal are under severe pressure in 10th place.