Our Adobe Women's FA Cup journey came to a frustrating end on Sunday afternoon.
Laia Aleixandri’s strike from a corner was the only difference at Meadow Park as Manchester City condemned us to a 1-0 defeat in the cup.
What happened
Jonas Eidevall made four changes to the team that lined up against West Ham United last weekend, with Leah Williamson captaining our Gunners against an in-form Man City side who haven't lost a match since November.
It was a cagey opening 10 minutes, with the hosts enjoying more possession but fewer chances in a tight midfield.
Caitlin Foord had an early opportunity on the counter, with Frida Maanum finding the Aussie in plenty of space. City recovered well, however, and Foord’s shot wasn’t enough to trouble Keating in goal.
With a number of interesting match-ups across the pitch, the first half was dominated by individual battles and both backlines largely nullified any attacking danger.
Beth Mead came close just before the break courtesy of a beautifully weighted cross from Kyra Cooney-Cross into the area, but our number 9 couldn't get sufficient power on her looping header.
We upped our intensity right out of the gate in the second 45 minutes, building a team move that ultimately saw Victoria Pelova shrug off Lauren Hemp and come close with a long-range shot.
Williamson's defence-splitting long deliveries allowed Alessia Russo and Beth Mead opportunities to run in behind the City defence as our attacking threat grew.
After no set pieces in the first half, we earned a succession of corners just before the hour mark, coming close to finding an opener each time.
Sabrina D'Angelo pulled off a magnificent diving save to deny Bunny Shaw from a corner, before Williamson heroically stopped the ball on the line less than a minute later.
But with the visitors increasing the pressure, the deadlock was finally broken after 74 minutes through another corner - this time, Laia Aleixandri struck the back of the net.
Our Gunners reacted well to going a goal down but Khiara Keating had a spectacular game between the posts to keep us at bay.
A late looping header from Pelova was somehow kept out by Keating's outstretched glove and Kim Little’s perfectly-struck volley was also denied by the shotstopper.
However, a corner delivery from Beth Mead was fumbled by Keating and despite numerous appeals that the ball had crossed the, an all-important equaliser was not given.
What's next
We're back in action on Wednesday evening in our rescheduled Conti Cup quarter-final against London City Lionesses. The fixture kicks off at 7pm and will be broadcast live on FA Player.
Team news
Arsenal starting XI: D'Angelo (GK), Fox, Wubben-Moy, Williamson (C) (Codina, 75), McCabe (Catley, 65), Cooney-Cross (Walti, 77), Pelova, Maanum (Little, 82), Mead, Foord, Russo (Blackstenius, 65)
Subs: Zinsberger (GK), Williams (GK), Lacasse
Man City starting XI: Keating (GK), Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Ouhabi, Casparij, Coombs, Hasegawa (Kennedy, 90), Park (Angeldahl, 85), Kelly, Hemp, Shaw (Fowler, 66)
Subs: MacIver (GK), Stokes, Morgan, Mace
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