Jonas Eidevall's side ran out 3-1 winners at the Emirates Stadium to open up a seven-point gap between them and the Red Devils
Manchester United's Champions League ambitions went up in smoke at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as Arsenal reignited their own hopes for the season with a devastating 3-1 victory over the Red Devils.
The visitors started brightly and looked like they would cause the Gunners' depleted backline problems with the high energy and pace of Nikita Parris and Geyse, but it was actually the latter putting the ball in her own net that broke the deadlock, Katie McCabe's corner causing chaos at the near post before bouncing off the Brazilian and beyond Mary Earps.
There were still errors in the Arsenal defence, however. Goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo dropped a routine catch right at the feet of Parris early on and Laia Codina's poor attempted block almost diverted Ella Toone's shot into the back of the net. But United didn't ask enough questions in this area and instead it was Arsenal who took control of the game, doubling the lead when Katie Zelem cleared the ball right onto the head of Cloe Lacasse, who simply couldn't miss.
If the travelling United fans thought it couldn't get worse, they were wrong. Beth Mead had been getting the better of Gemma Evans all afternoon, and it culminated in the Wales international chopping down the England star in the box just before half-time. Kim Little made no mistake from the spot, sending Earps the wrong way to put Arsenal in an unassailable lead.
The uneventful manner in which the game petered out will have only been more frustrating for United, with them unable to really conjure up anything to worry the Gunners in the most important game of their season, though a late consolation through Lucia Garcia did make the scoreline more flattering.
Regardless, with eight games remaining, the seven-point gap that has opened up between the Red Devils and Arsenal, who sit in the final European spot, is surely too large to overcome. The north London side, meanwhile, are now only three points off the top.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Emirates Stadium…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Arsenal
After a really tough start to February, this has been a massively encouraging week for Arsenal. The Gunners were dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester City last Sunday, just seven days after seeing their title hopes take a huge hit in a shock loss to West Ham. Their season was falling apart.
However, a win over London City Lionesses in midweek put Eidevall's side into the last four of the Continental Cup, and victory over United allowed them to open up a seven-point gap between themselves and the Red Devils in the fight for that third and final Champions League spot. Heck, their title hopes are even back alive, with them only three points behind Chelsea and Man City now after the Cityzens beat the Blues on Friday night.
A defeat at the Emirates would've been absolutely catastrophic. United would've been just one point behind them and buoyed by the result, while it would've dampened Arsenal's confidence even more given recent results. To bounce back in this manner, in such a devastating performance, was applaudable.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Gemma Evans
On paper, the match-up between Evans and Mead looked like a good one for Arsenal. United are depleted in the full-back areas, with Gabby George suffering an ACL injury early in the season and Jayde Riviere ruled out of this clash due to a knock. Leah Galton, the determined winger who could've been an option in a left-back role she's played before, had been struggling with illness, too, and so was only on the bench.
Perhaps Skinner could've switched things up at the back and deployed Evans in a central role, one she's impressed in before for previous clubs and for her country, Wales. But instead he opted to put her up against Mead on the left and it produced damning results.
Booked midway through the first half for bringing Mead down on the counter, Evans was then lucky to avoid a second yellow when she fouled the England star in the box and gave away a penalty. That was her last notable action, anyway, as Skinner brought her off for Galton at the break.
Evans isn't a bad player, but this was a match-up that looked unfavourable for her immediately and perhaps could've been avoided.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Cloe Lacasse
Opportunities haven't been easy to come by for Lacasse since her summer switch from Benfica. Indeed, this was only her fourth league start of the season, but it brought with it her second league goal, the other having come in the 2-2 draw with United back in October.
Her strike on Saturday wasn't the same quality as that incredible hit from the reverse fixture, but it showcased the qualities that the Canadian brings to the table as she sneaked in at the back post and was in the right place at the right time to nod home Zelem's poor clearance.
Completing three of her four attempted dribbles, she posed a problem for the visiting defence all afternoon, but her hard-working attitude and contributions on the other side of the ball are what help set Lacasse apart as a forward. She won all five of her tackles on Saturday, two of her four aerial duels, made three clearances and won possession back seven times.
That tenacity, mixed with her explosive attacking elements, make the 30-year-old such a dynamic and useful player, and it was all on show in a stand-out display this weekend. She deserves more of these opportunities.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Marc Skinner
Pitting Evans up against Mead wasn't Skinner's only mistake on Saturday. Asked by GOAL in midweek if he would try and capitalise on Arsenal's struggles against more defensive-minded sides this season or whether he would look for his team to play on their own terms and attack, he said his tactical approach to the match would be somewhere in the middle of those two plans. In truth, as things played out, it was hard to tell just what United's plan was.
The Red Devils had some early joy in pressing Arsenal high up the pitch, forcing errors from Codina, D'Angelo and nearly getting in behind Lotte Wubben-Moy a couple of times, too. However, that pressure was barely seen again after the Gunners took the lead with 10 minutes on the clock.
Arsenal were missing centre-backs Leah Williamson and Amanda Ilestedt for this match, as well as full-back Emily Fox. There were going to be opportunities for United if they could put the defence under pressure, either out of possession or by emphasising transitional play, especially with the pace and incisiveness of their forwards. Yet, we hardly saw any attempts to capitalise on this, with slow build-up play leading to little of note as Arsenal cantered to victory.
Given Skinner is out of contract this summer, the manner in which United succumbed to a defeat that leaves them seven points off the European places with just eight games remaining will have hardly encouraged his employers to draw up a new deal as a matter of urgency.