Analysis: Man United and Arsenal play out four-goal thriller
Probably a deserved point each in the end, but two of the WSL's prime contenders showed real quality despite the fact both are clearly still a work in progress...
Manchester United were denied three points in a pulsating clash with rivals Arsenal as Cloe Lacasse's stunning 94th-minute equaliser sealed a first point of the season for Jonas Eidevall's Gunners, just when it looked like they would be condemned to a second defeat in a row to start the season.
Little more than 10 minutes after it looked as though United debutant Melvine Malard had won it after getting in front of Amanda Ilestedt to get a deft touch on Hinata Miyazawa's cushioned header, the Canadian struck in spectacular style.
It's somewhat the beauty of football. This was an intriguing tactical battle between two differing styles and two very different systems, yet was decided by a stunning goal the hosts could do little about, with Lacasse's nifty footwork too much for both Gabby George and Hayley Ladd.
Eidevall ripped up the script and made many changes to the team which lost against Liverpool last week, including putting in goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo, as well as Laia Codina making her debut, among the moves from the head coach.
Marc Skinner's side were unchanged and it started as it ended, in a general deadlock as both sides tried to use their tactical advantages to unlock the door. United's front three of Lucia Garcia, Leah Galton and Geyse dropped on to each of Arsenal's centre-backs and offered space for full-backs Hannah Blundell and Gabby George to get forward, while Arsenal responded with Alessia Russo, back at her old club, and Kim Little playing wide in a front three to drop onto United's full-backs to kill their space.
On the new-look front three, Eidevall said, "We wanted to utilise Stina's running in behind and we know Kim can drive forward with the ball. You could see we were lacking some of the relationships within that [front three], but that's sometimes the price you pay when you change the team. I think that was necessary, as I've said this week. It's also about how you finish the game on the pitch, not just how you start."
Arsenal generally looked they had control of what United were trying to do, except for the gaps between the midfield two of Lia Walti and Victoria Pelova and the defence, allowing Ella Toone to pick up pockets of space to try and drive the hosts forward.
When Arsenal's opener came, they exploited United with their width as full-back Steph Catley drove into space, slotted in Blackstenius who drifted left beyond Blundell and ran in to finish calmly behind Earps.
Skinner admitted while United could have adapted more to Arsenal's system, but wanted to be able to play his team's way.
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"It's the quality of the players, you utilise them for their skill rather than their shape," when asked about Little and Russo playing either side of Blackstenius. "Kim can go beyond your back line. We could easily go into a back five to nullify that, but we're Man United, we go to attack, so sometimes we had to allow that overload to go forward.
"From our perspective, if we'd driven forward a bit more first half I think we'd have opened them up more, that's something we'll look at. We've had about 10 training sessions as a collective, so we're still growing."
The hosts though started to get the better of things and after several attempts from George to get Galton in behind Noelle Maritz and Amanda Ilestedt, it paid off when D'Angelo failed to make a connection with the ball, and Galton was left to roll home the equaliser.
For the remainder of the half and the early knockings of the second, Arsenal didn't get to grips with United who constantly created neat little triangles in behind Arsenal's wing-backs, especially down the left via Galton, George and Toone.
To combat United, Eidevall made a triple change just before the hour mark, but didn't adapt his system. Katie McCabe, Caitlin Foord and Frida Maanum came on, with the latter two going either side of Russo, while McCabe went left wing-back and Catley moved into the back three.
Eidevall was clearly happier with his team's application, something he criticised last week, celebrating every tackle as things started to get heated both on the pitch and on the touchline as both managers exchanged some words.
Skinner made the same change as a week ago with Rachel Williams replacing Geyse - who Skinner said is five or six games away from being ready for 90 minutes - before Miyazawa and Malard came on for Toone and Garcia.
It didn't take long for Miyazawa and Malard to make an impact, as the World Cup Golden Boot winner nodded a ball through for Malard who pounced on Ilestedt's indecisiveness to prod home what for a period looked like the winner, and for the second week in a row two of Skinner's substitutions linked up for a crucial goal.
"People talk a lot about my rotation, but reality is when you have those players you can start different systems when we get used to each other. They showed instinct, Mel read the gap, Hinata found the space. We've got that in players and had to create it in others. We have players who can do that in big games now and that's exciting for us."
Eidevall blamed both "miscommunication and mistiming" for both goals his side conceded, but salvaged a point when Lacasse scored a stunner in the 94th minute for what was at the very least a deserved point for Arsenal, who generally enjoyed the best of the chances and had hit the post through Russo just before Malard's strike.
It was a clash worthy of the two teams involved, and while Skinner said both teams would be disappointed with "error strewn" passages at times, he was right in that both teams went for it, and even after Lacasse's goal it looked like there might be another twist, especially when Miyazawa hit one from the edge of the box.
For United, it's four points from two tough opening games ahead of PSG on Sunday, while Arsenal are on the board with a much-improved performance.
Change the midfield. It cannot last whole season like you did last year.... Martin was the brains he will be missed for times like Tuesday