Cloe Lacasse hit a stunning stoppage-time goal to earn Arsenal a draw at Manchester United in the Women’s Super League.
United thought they had won it when Melvine Malard scored on her debut in the 81st minute, but there was a late twist as Lacasse fired into the top left corner to give Arsenal a first point of the season.
Arsenal had gone ahead early on at Leigh Sports Village when Stina Blackstenius showed power and pace to get away from Hannah Blundell before coolly slotting into the far corner.
That advantage lasted a mere 13 minutes, with United gifted a route back into the contest by goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo.
The Canadian mistimed a clearance and allowed Leah Galton the chance to roll the ball into an open goal.
Gunners show fighting spirit
After losing 1-0 in their opening WSL game of the season against Liverpool last weekend, Jonas Eidevall made six changes for Friday’s encounter – and one of the players who came in, Blackstenius, grasped the opportunity with a fine solo goal to put the Gunners in front.
However, D’Angelo, who was also drafted in to replace regular number one Manuela Zinsberger, had a moment to forget shortly after when she kicked only air and Galton got United on level terms.
It was a competitive first half and both managers would have been satisfied with their sides’ respective performances, but the game was still there to be won.
All three points appeared to be going to hosts United when two substitutes combined late on – Hinata Miyazawa heading on for Malard to apply the finishing touch as Arsenal were indecisive at the back.
But Arsenal had an ace up their sleeve in another substitute, with Lacasse firing an exquisite shot from 25 yards beyond England goalkeeper Mary Earps in stoppage time.
Lacasse scored 22 goals in 15 league appearances for Benfica last term and could prove to be a key asset for Arsenal this season.
It is early days in the 2023-24 season, with the second round of matches only getting under way, but United move top for now and Arsenal sit seventh, with the rest of the division still to play this weekend.
Eidevall was needing a decent result coming into this game after a poor start to the 2023-24 campaign.
An early exit from the Champions League, losing to Paris FC in the qualifying stage, was followed by a 1-0 defeat at home against Liverpool in their opening WSL game last weekend.
The Gunners hierarchy showed their faith in the Swede earlier this week by handing him a new long-term deal, and this may be the start of a turnaround in fortunes.
Eidevall told Sky Sports: “The performance was big from us today. There’s not many teams who come to Leigh Sports Village and are the better team than Manchester United are, especially when you see the number of goalscoring opportunities.
“Sometimes you need to match that process with a result and I’m extremely pleased we got that out of it, but when we look back at it I think we will be a bit disappointed we did not win the game because we had more clear chances.
“Today we created clear chances. We were more creative, more clear in attack. That was nice to see and nice for our travelling fans.”
The draw means Arsenal avoided losing four WSL games in a row for the first time in their history, having ended last season disappointingly.
