Match report: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal Women

2 1

WHAT HAPPENED

We suffered late heartbreak on Sunday as we slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Manchester City on the road.

We started strong with Vivianne Miedema opening the scoring, but we failed to maintain our dominance with goals from Sam Mewis and Caroline Weir proving vital on an emotional day in the north west.

Just 24 hours after Jen Beattie had told the story behind her battle with breast cancer, the centre back started alongside Leah Williamson in our defence.

And there was a heartwarming moment during the warm-up at the Academy Stadium, as both sides stepped out wearing ‘BEATTIE 5’ shirts in solidarity with the Scotland international and to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of identifying symptoms early.

After suffering a 2-1 defeat in our last meeting with City, we knew we needed a fast start to build confidence and that’s exactly what happened.

Pressing from the front and playing with purpose, Vivianne Miedema pounced on a loose pass on the edge of the area, and curled her right-footed effort into the bottom corner.

The Netherlands international has now scored 16 goals across all competitions this season.

We continued to dominate play and looked the stronger of the two sides, but following a positive five-minute spell from the hosts, Sam Mewis climbed high inside the area to head home from a corner.

The remainder of the first half and the following 25 minutes of the second proved to be a tightly-contested affair, with chances arriving few and far between.

But as we approached the closing stages, it was City who took charge of the game and we soon found ourselves defending in numbers on the edge of our penalty area.

We dealt with delivery after delivery and looked set for a share of the spoils, but with a single lapse in concentration, Weir picked up the ball 20 yards from goal and fired into the bottom corner with almost the last kick of the game.