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Vivianne Miedema and Arsenal end Manchester City’s perfect WSL start


The Netherlands’ record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema hit her first Women’s Super League goal against Manchester City to end the Blues’ unbeaten run and keep Arsenal’s hopes of retaining the title well and truly alive.

Though City were top of the league with four wins from four, it could be argued there was no better time for the champions to face them. Aoife Mannion ruptured her ACL against Atlético Madrid to unsettle their solid backline, Kiera Walsh was ruled out after picking up a straight red in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in the League Cup, and Ellen White’s slow return from injury had only progressed far enough for her to be on the bench.

With Arsenal able to field arguably their strongest starting XI (a rare occurrence) they edged the early exchanges, but there was a cageyness to the play. Only 12 teams in the league means that every point matters. No team knows this quite like City, who last season went unbeaten until Emma Mitchell’s late thunderbolt ended the run on the final day of the season. Arsenal, though, had already won the league, City undone by their five draws.

Arsenal dominated possession and passed the ball crisply, but City’s strategy of cutting off the Gunners’ attack at its roots, forcing them to play out from the back through former City defender Jen Beattie by sitting Janine Beckie on Leah Williamson, was very smart. With Williamson unable to pick out the between-the-lines passes she is so adept at, Arsenal struggled to find a way through the two banks of four that City frequently reverted to.

Beth Mead lays off a pass under pressure from Mathilde Hidalgo.



Beth Mead lays off a pass under pressure from Mathilde Hidalgo. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

In the 12th minute Arsenal had their first effort on goal, Dutch striker Miedema collecting the ball 20 yards out with her back to goal, spinning, and curling her effort over the bar.

It was not until the half-hour mark that City had a sight of goal, Georgia Stanway picking out Beckie, but her angled shot also went over. England’s Jill Scott, playing deeper in the absence of the suspended Walsh, did well to keep Arsenal’s creative central pairing of Jordan Nobbs and Kim Little quiet.

But with a minute left of the half, a fortunate deflection from Katie McCabe’s cross fell at the feet of Little who slipped Miedema through one-on-one and, with the centre back Gemma Bonner woefully out of position, the Gunners’ forwards fired low past Ellie Roebuck to put Arsenal ahead.

With City struggling to get a foothold, Nick Cushing switched things after the hour, with striker Pauline Bremer and Megan Campbell coming on. Five minutes later he hooked Beckie for Ellen White to make her first appearance in a Manchester City shirt – and first since her World Cup heroics.

Arsenal though continued to dominate, pressing high and testing the composure of Roebuck at every opportunity, looking more likely to get a second than concede. The Gunners will be delighted to have stayed in contention after a lacklustre 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in their last league outing. For City, the size of the Keira Walsh-shaped hole in both their defensive and attacking play will be a matter of increasing concern.



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