ARSENAL AND MAN UTD PROVE THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN WSL AMID TIME-WASTING ROW
Arsenal and Manchester United showed why neither side are good enough to win the Women’s Super League after playing out their second goalless draw of the season.
Arsenal dominated what was a marginally better game than the reverse fixture at Leigh Sports Village in September, but could not find a breakthrough – despite United playing the final 25 minutes with 10 players after Jayde Riviere was shown a second yellow card.
The home side had 64 touches in United’s penalty area compared to their opponents’ eight, though United arguably had the best chance to score when Fridolina Rolffö’s header was tipped on to the bar by Anneke Borbe in the fifth minute.
The result leaves Arsenal seven points and United eight points behind leaders Manchester City, who play Everton on Sunday. Should that gap increase to 10 and 11 points respectively, it would surely be a margin too big for either team to claw back.
Neither side have been able to win against a top-four rival this season and that is why they will likely be in a shoot-out with each other for third place.
Arsenal backed head coach Renee Slegers by giving her a new 3½-year contract this week, but there is an acknowledgment within the club that results this season have not been as good as they would have hoped.
The club have full belief in Slegers, but she will undoubtedly come under pressure if results do not improve in this crucial six-week period.
Arsenal host Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup next Sunday before the visit of United in the semi-final of the League Cup on January 21. They then travel to Chelsea in the WSL on January 24 and potentially face two Champions Cup matches, should they win their semi-final with Moroccan side AS FAR, before the visit of City in the WSL at the start of February.
They then face a two-legged Champions League play-off with Belgian side Leuven. They are currently competing on five fronts but, by mid-February, their season could be all but over.
Asked whether her side can realistically still win the WSL title, Slegers said: “We make it harder for ourselves with this result. We wanted, needed, three points today, that’s two points lost for us. There are still games left to play tomorrow so we will see the results in those games, that’s outside of our control, but as long as it’s possible [to win the league] we will keep on chasing.
“[It was] a game of dominance, apart from that first header they had in the first half. A game of dominance with no reward unfortunately.”
Slegers was frustrated at the amount of stoppages caused by United’s goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce who was booked for time-wasting in the second half. She went down for treatment shortly after Riviere’s sending-off, which United defender Dominique Janssen appeared to indicate was designed to give her team time to regroup, saying: “Phallon went down for us to discuss tactical changes.”
Slegers admitted there is no easy solution to a delaying tactic that is implemented by many teams, but said it can harm the attractiveness of the league.
“When you look at the bigger picture, there are so many people investing to come and watch us in the stadium or on TV,” Slegers said. “The product needs to be attractive and this is one of the areas that probably brings the entertainment down a little bit.
“I haven’t had much time to think about the exact solution, but I think there are other people who are thinking about that... hopefully!”
Arsenal needed to win this game more than United, who at times lacked ambition at the Emirates but defended resolutely. Marc Skinner adjusted the set-up of his team well after Riviere’s dismissal, but United had not looked like winning this contest before they went down to 10. Neither club look capable of chasing down City, with defending champions Chelsea the most likely team to put pressure on the WSL leaders.
“I’m not going to say we’re out of it [the title race], we’re going to chase,” Skinner insisted. “Man City have had the benefit of not having any European football, no distractions. It only takes one moment of wobble, sometimes you have to pray for that. All I can control is trying to win the next game of football. We’ve put ourselves at a deficit, a big tally, I’m sure no one has done it before, but we have to give ourselves a chance to try to win the rest of the games in the WSL to see how much pressure we can put on.”
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2026-01-10T15:30:39Z