Live Blog: Arsenal look to keep WSL title hopes alive against Manchester United
Emirates Stadium is sold-out for a bumper Saturday lunchtime fixture between Arsenal Women and Manchester United
Arsenal celebrate their second goal against Manchester United in last season's fixture. Credit- Jacques Feeney/Offside
Live BLog Saturday Feb 17th
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Player ratings and post-match reaction to come.
A huge win for the Gunners, who deservedly overcome Marc Skinner’s side and remind Man City and Chelsea that they are still in the WSL title race And all in front of a record, sold-out crowd!
Full time: Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United.
90+10' Good defending by Lacasse, who is filling in at right-back to stop United's counter attack progressing. 3-1
90+9' Arsenal were caught napping there and have thrown away their clean sheet. 3-1
90+6' Goal: Arsenal 3-1 United: Garcia taps in at the back post following a corner that was taken short and then went through D’Angelo’s hands. 3-1
90+4 Walti is back on her feet and will continue- youngster Vivienne Lia was stripped and ready to come on, presumably as a concussion substitute. 3-0
90+4' Correction: It's Lia Walti who is down. 3-0
90+2' Codina now receives treatment for another injury as United await a free-kick. 3-0
90+1' Caitlin Foord is booked. Six added minutes. 3-0
89' Wubben-Moy is named the Arsenal Women Supporters' Club player of the match. Good call. 3-0
87' Arsenal build through Miedema but end up playing the ball all the way back to D'Angelo, who is barely pressed by the veteran Williams. All too easy. 3-0
83' Catley is back up on her feet and will leave the field to be replaced by Foord. The definition of putting your body on the line from the Aussie defender. 3-0
80' Heroic defending from Arsenal- Williams draws a brilliant save from D'Angelo before Catley puts her body on the line to go for a header agauinst Garcia. She is attended to by the physios. 3-0
79' Arsenal have set a new WSL record attendance at Emirates Stadium! 60,160 tickets sold. 3-0
78' McCabe goes for glory from a long way out but misses. 3-0
77' Some applause from the home fans for Parris as she is replaced by Malard. 3-0
75' Arsenal substitution as Maanum and Miedema replace Mead and Little. 3-0
73' McCabe and Little combine well in the box and McCabe draws another save from the busy Earps. 3-0
72' Wubben-Moy slides in to block Parris' effort before Garcia is adjudged offside from the deflection. 3-0
71' Good save from D'Angelo to deny Parris at her near post- Parris really should have squared the ball back across goal. 3-0
70' United make a change as Naalsund is replaced by Ladd in midfield. 3-0
68' Another Arsenal chance goes begging! Lacasse's tame shot is saved by Earps at her near post. 3-0
67' A warm reception from the Arsenal fans for Russo, who comes on for Blackstenius. 3-0
66' Mead goes close twice more, hitting the post once again and then seeing her shot saved! 3-0
65' Huge cheers from the home fans as Russo prepares to come on against her former club. 3-0
62' Almost a fourth for Arsenal! Mead's fierce strike smashes the post. 3-0
61' Strong save by Earps to deny Blackstenius, who latched on to a backpass. 3-0
60' Corner for Arsenal evades everyone, including KCC at the back post. 3-0
58' McCabe whips in a cross from the right and Earps is alert to claim down low under pressure from Blackstenius. 3-0
56' Parris heads wide from a long ball into the box but the flag is raised. 3-0
55' Geyse with a powerful run down the right wing and her shot has to be saved by Zinsberger at her near post. 3-0
52' Garcia finds space down the left wing but her cutback is straight at Wubben-Moy. No real cohesion going forward for Marc Skinner's side. 3-0
50' Wubben-Moy is shown a yellow card. 3-0
48' Looks like the Cooney-Cross switch for Pelova will lend itself towatds Arsenal controlling the midfield, with the cushion of a 3-0 lead to lean upon. 3-0
46' The second half is underway. 3-0
Cooney-Cross replaces Pelova, whilst Galton comes on for Evans.
Both sides head back out onto the pitch for the second half.
Pitchside, Arsenal's quadruple winning side of 2006/07 are commemorated pitchside.
An excellent opening 45 minutes from the Gunners. Geyse own goal, Lacasse and Little the scorers, with Arsenal in firm control of this game.
Half time: Arsenal 3-0 Man United.
45+4' Mead and Catley both get shots away and both are blocked after some brilliant trickery from Mead to beat her marker. 3-0
45+3' Arsenal fans wave their scarves and sing as they enjoy the comfortable position their side are now in. 3-0
45+1' Four minutes of added time. 3-0
44' Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Man United: Little sends her spot-kick past Earps to make it three! Arsenal might have wrapped things up before half time here. 3-0
43' Arsenal are awarded a penalty! Little's header finds Mead who is brought down by Evans. 2-0
41' Now Blackstenius is brought down in midfield by Turner- another cynical foul by the away side, who are clearly frustrated and short of ideas. 2-0
39' McCabe is clipped late by Evans, who is on a yellow card. She receives treatment but will be ok to continue. 2-0
38' McCabe is booked for pushing over Toone. 1-0
35' Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Man United: Pelova finds Blackstenius in the box, and she can't get a shot away. Zelem clears the ball straight at Lacasse, who heads home. 2-0
33' Now United can get in behind but Garcia's cross is cleared by Wubben-Moy. Mead breaks and is brought down by Evans, who receives a yellow card. 1-0
32' Late foul by Mead on Evans and Marc Skinner is unhappy that the Arsenal forward has avoided a yellow card. 1-0
31' Zelem has the chance to swing in a free-kick. Before her delivery reaches a United player, the referee blows her whistle for a foul by Geyse. 1-0
29' Toone's shot is deflected just wide of the far post. 1-0
28' Brilliant defending from Wubben-Moy- Geyse had sprinted down the right but the Arsenal defender got back to challenge her. 1-0
27' Mead's free-kick is bent over the crossbar- not a bad effort. 1-0
26' First yellow card of the game- Blundell brings down Lacasse with a cynical foul. 1-0
25' United's attack comes to nothing as Catley challenges Geyse well to win a throw-in. 1-0
22' Strong run by Blackstenius who drives into the penalty area, but her shot is deflected and saved by Earps. 1-0
22' United's own goal has been awarded (if that's the right word) to Geyse. 1-0
17' Mead picks up possession in the box, cuts onto her left foot and bends a shot wide via a headed block from Turner. 1-0
16' Garcia makes inrodes but her tame cross is claimed down low by D'Angelo. 1-0
14' After withstanding some early pressure it's Arsenal who strike first in the form of an own goal, and the whole team were celebrating in front of the fans. 1-0
10' Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Man United: McCabe's corner causes problems at the near post, and the ball hits two United players to deflect past Earps. Looked like the last touch came off of Le Tissier. 1-0
8' Arsenal's first corner is taken by Mead and punched away by Earps. 0-0
7' Pelova's floated pass finds Mead in some space at the back post. Her cross is headed away by Turner. 0-0
6' Mead looks for Blackstenius in behind but her pass is over-hit and collected by Earps. 0-0
4' Zelem's free kick is spilled by D'Angelo, who is adjudged to have been fouled by Garcia. 0-0
4' Codina's shaky start continues with a foul on Parris, and a talking-to from the referee. 0-0
1' A sloppy backpass from Codina sees D'Angelo rush out of her box and tackle Parris strongly. 0-0
1' We are underway! 0-0
Arsenal are in their red and white home kit, with United in a dark green away strip.
Here come the teams, as a huge banner is unfurled on the far side in the stand!
The teams are in the tunnel!
If Arsenal win, they can move seven points above United and strengthen their grip on Champions League qualification. The Gunners are also still in the title race, which was blown open by Man City's win over Chelsea last night.
Arsenal's record against Manchester United makes for difficult reading. United did the double over Arsenal last season, and were moments away from winning back in October until Cloe Lacasse picked out the top corner from range to salvage a draw.
Finally, Arsenal stalwart Jen Beattie is given a fantastic reception from the home fans as she is interviewed pitchside.
And Kim Little is commemorated by Vic Akers after bringing up her 300th appearance for Arsenal last month.
Lia Walti receives her January player of the month award, remarkably her first POTM accolade for Arsenal.
Young defender Katie Reid has spent this season on dual registration with Watford, but has been recalled from her spell with the Women's Championship side and is involved in Arsenal's matchday squad.
I have now spotted Vivianne Miedema, who is in her training kit down by the tunnel but wearing trainers. The forward is named on the bench for Arsenal but is not warming up.
England cricket captain Heather Knight is being interviewed pitchside about women's football and her love for Arsenal.
Arsenal are set to play in front of a sold out Emirates Stadium for the first time in the Women's Super League. Jonas Eidevall said: “I can see for the two-and-a-half years I’ve been here starting at the Emirates Stadium with 10,000 people against Chelsea, and now coming into last season when we had a sellout against Wolfsburg in the Champions League semi-final, and then seeing how that rolls into this season, having attendances over 50,000 numerous times, and now we get another sellout. “And we still have two more games to play at the Emirates this season so it’s incredible. It just shows the growth of the game, and for us in particular.”
Vivianne Miedema is named on the bench for Arsenal but does not appear to have joined the pre-match warm-up.
For Manchester United, Nikita Parris starts against her former side. The forward narrowly missed out on England selection despite being in fine goalscoring form, so will be keen to prove a point.
Sabrina D'Angelo is selected in goal, with Alessia Russo, Caitlin Foord and Vivianne Miedema notable absentees in the starting eleven. Stina Blackstenius is preferred to Russo upfront, and Laia Codina comes in for Leah Williamson.
Leah Williamson is out with a minor hamstring injury, and Amanda Ilestedt remains sidelined through illness.
Man United subs: Tullis-Joyce, Mannion, Aherne, Galton, Guerrero, Ladd, Malard, Williams.
Arsenal subs: Zinsberger, Bouhaddi, Reid, Cooney-Cross, Maanum, Foord, Miedema, Russo, Lia.
Man United: Earps, Le Tissier, Blundell, Toone, Zelem, Evans, Naalsund, Garcia, Turner, Parris, Geyse.
Arsenal: D'Angelo; Catley, Wubben-Moy, Codina, McCabe; Walti, Pelova, Little; Lacasse, Blackstenius, Mead.
Hello and welcome to Emirates Stadium for Arsenal v Manchester United in the WSL. Team news is in...