The 4-2 Arsenal result at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 4 October kept Man City Women perfect in the WSL. They came from behind twice to make it five straight WSL wins. City stayed top of the table going into the international break. Lauren Hemp scored twice, with Kerstin Casparij and Khadija Bunny Shaw also on target in a breathless afternoon in Manchester. The Hemp double was the difference, and the 4-2 Arsenal scoreline reflected it.
Arsenal twice lead, City twice answer
Arsenal arrived looking for their first win since the opening day. They struck first when Lisa Baum put the visitors ahead in the 43rd minute. City responded before the break, Hemp forcing the ball home from a tight angle in first-half stoppage time to send the teams in level.
However, the pattern repeated after the restart. Alessia Russo restored Arsenal’s lead four minutes into the second half. Substitute Kerstin Casparij equalised in the 63rd minute. Hemp put City in front for the first time nine minutes later. Shaw sealed it in the 84th minute with her fifth goal of the season.
Five from five after the 4-2 Arsenal win
The win kept City top of the WSL heading into the international break with a perfect record from their opening five matches. It also set the tone for what followed, because a sixth successive league win came against Brighton after the break, with Shaw’s double in that 3-2 victory taking her to seven for the season and keeping City two points clear.
For Arsenal the defeat was a second in a row after a 1-0 loss at Chelsea, leaving them without a win since the opening day of the season. They sat 10th on five points from five games, ten points behind City.
The Hemp double and a Shaw finish
The afternoon belonged to City’s two most decisive attackers. Hemp’s first was an angled drive in first-half stoppage time that took a deflection off Emily Fox, and her second put City in front for the first time. Shaw’s late strike was her fifth of the season, and she has since added two more against Brighton to reach seven.
Arsenal’s scorers made it a real contest. Baum’s opener and Russo’s second-half strike put the Gunners in front twice at the Etihad. City found two equalisers and a winner from there. Therefore, the 4-2 Arsenal scoreline said as much about the champions as the Hemp double did.
Elsewhere that Sunday
Meanwhile, earlier that day, Chelsea beat West Ham 3-0 with goals from Melvine Malard, Keira Walsh and Maika Hamano to move second, two points behind City. London City Lionesses thrashed Tottenham 6-1, Alexia Putellas scoring twice, to climb to third on 12 points. Brighton beat Charlton 5-1 and Everton won 2-1 against Birmingham, while Manchester United edged Liverpool 1-0 on the Saturday.
What the 4-2 Arsenal win meant
The comeback underlined the resilience of City’s title defence. City were twice behind against one of the league’s traditional powers. They answered both times and kept the lead once they took it. With Hemp and Shaw both scoring, the champions’ two main threats delivered when the match demanded it. The 3-2 win over Brighton a fortnight later extended the run to six from six.
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