Arsenal and Manchester United prove they are not good enough to win WSL title
Arsenal and Manchester United showed why neither team is good enough to win the Women’s Super League after playing out their second goalless draw of the season.
Arsenal dominated what was a slightly better match than the reverse fixture at Leigh Sports Village in September, but could not find a breakthrough – although United played the final 25 minutes with 10 players after Jayde Riviere received a second yellow card.
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The home side had 64 touches in United’s penalty area, compared to their opponents’ eight, although United had arguably the best chance to score when Fridolina Rolfo saw her header tipped over the bar by Anneke Borbe in the fifth minute.
The result leaves Arsenal seven points and United eight points behind leaders Manchester City, who face Everton on Sunday. If that gap increased to 10 and 11 points respectively, it would surely be too big a margin for either team to recover.
Neither team has been able to win against a top-four rival this season and that’s why they will likely find themselves in a shootout for third place.
Arsenal have backed head coach Renee Slegers by handing him a new three-and-a-half year contract this week, but there is recognition within the club that results this season have not been as good as they would have hoped.
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The club have full confidence in Slegers, but will undoubtedly be under pressure if results do not improve during this crucial six-week period.
Arsenal host Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round next Sunday before United visit in the League Cup semi-final on January 21. They next travel to Chelsea in the WSL on January 24 and potentially face two Champions Cup matches if they win their semi-final with Moroccan side AS FAR before City visit in the WSL in early February.
They will then face Belgian club Louvain in the Champions League round-trip play-offs. They are currently competing on five fronts, but by mid-February their season could be all but over.
Asked if his team could realistically still win the WSL title, Slegers replied: “We’re making it harder for ourselves with this result. We wanted, needed three points today, that’s two points lost for us. There are still games to play tomorrow so we’ll see the results in those games, it’s out of our control but as long as it’s possible (to win the league) we’ll keep chasing it.
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“(It was) a game of domination, apart from that first header they had in the first half. A game of domination without reward unfortunately.”
Arsenal needed to win this game more than United, who lacked ambition at times at the Emirates but defended resolutely. Marc Skinner adjusted his team setup well after Rivière’s dismissal, but United didn’t look like winning this game before falling to 10 men. Neither club looks capable of chasing down City, with reigning champions Chelsea the team most likely to put pressure on the WSL leaders.
“I’m not going to say we’re out (of the title race), we’re going to keep going,” insisted Skinner. “Man City had the advantage of no European football, no distractions. It only takes a moment of swing, sometimes you have to pray for that. All I can control is trying to win the next football game. We put ourselves in a deficit, a big score, I’m sure no one has done that before, but we have to give ourselves a chance to try and win the rest of the WSL games to see how much pressure we can put on.”
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