Arsenal 1–1 Manchester United: Smilla Holmberg Rescues a Point at the Emirates

Arsenal have drawn 1-1 with with Manchester United at the Emirates. Smilla Holmberg rescued a point with a brilliant goal in stoppage time, and I guess my immediate reaction was that I was relieved, because for a long time it looked like we were about to spend the next few days talking about Arsenal losing at home to a Manchester United side who before Saturday had lost its first two games and conceded seven along the way.

Instead, we came away with a point, and of course I’m relieved, but it’s also a really mixed feeling because I was so certain that this game would be the one where, if not an avalanche, we’d still put a couple past this United team and bag the three points.

This isn't a full analysis; it’s just where my head is at immediately after the game, and after what we talked about following the Palace game last weekend, I find myself thinking about some of the same questions again.

Against Palace we had 79 per cent of the ball, 30 shots, nine on target, and somehow didn't score. We talked afterwards about whether the problem was really chance creation, because simply counting shots doesn't tell you a lot about the quality of those chances, and we also talked about what happens when a team sets out to protect the middle of the park, stay compact and force Arsenal to try and find another way through them.

Manchester United have obviously been paying attention.

Overall, I thought they were very good defensively. They were organised, disciplined, and very compact through the middle, and they looked pretty comfortable with Arsenal having the ball, while their overall defensive shape kept pushing us wide to the touchline.

 There was also a spell just before half-time when United were quite happy to slow everything down, keep the ball across their defence, and then try to go long when there was a chance, and it just felt like the game was being played the way they wanted it to be played.

Arsenal still had chances - Georgia Stanway put a lovely low free-kick into the area, which fell to Leah Williamson, but she just didn't get any power on the shot. Then, just before half-time, came probably the best Arsenal chance, which started all the way back from our own goal with Misa Rodríguez.

Misa looked up, saw Ona Batlle high up making a run into the United area, and she went Route One with a deadly accurate long ball, and it nearly worked. Ona’s first touch wasn’t great, but Lisa Baum picked up the rebound and put a lovely, almost chipped ball back into the area for Stina Blackstenius, who got a powerful header on it, and Tullis-Joyce made a really good save.

Well, I say that, but when you look back at it, Stina must know that if she puts it either side of the keeper, then Arsenal go in at half-time 1-0 up.

Just checking my notes, I wrote that at that point it was feeling a little bit like last season - I don't want to make a big deal out of that comparison because we’re only three games in and this is a very different Arsenal squad, but after last weekend it was difficult not to recognise some of it. Lots of possession, lots of Arsenal around the opposition penalty area and another team that was happy to stay narrow and compact, defend the central spaces and really frustrate.

I also wrote down that I wanted to see Smilla Holmberg come on on the right to combine with Lisa Baum because this was one of the things we talked about in the preview. Lisa naturally comes inside, and Smilla is very happy going outside, and I thought that combination might cause real problems for Anna Sandberg and Andrea Medina, because for most of the first half I wasn't convinced by Lisa out on the left this weekend. We didn't get that exact combination because Lisa stayed on the pitch while Smilla came on for Olivia in the 57th minute, with Kim Little replacing Mariona, but Smilla did go straight into that right wing position to attack from the right.

I really thought she changed things. She was straight away getting at the United fullback, driving directly at her, trying to get around the outside and get the cross in, and there was a real directness that I thought we'd been missing.

Then in the 66th minute we made life more difficult for ourselves. Initially I thought Steph Catley had made a bad mistake, but looking back at it, it was Georgia Stanway who played the ball back when Steph was already under pressure; United pounced on it, and Zigiotti went through, nutmegged Steph to go clear on goal and finished really well past Misa, bang, we’re 1-0 down, against a Man United side that, apart from a couple of decent chances, hadn't really threatened that much all game.

This is where I started getting a bit frustrated with the timing of the substitutions, because in my mind at half-time I felt that if we couldn’t find a goal within ten or fifteen minutes of the second half, I wanted to see Géraldine Reuteler and Selina Cerci on.

 We spent a lot of time during the week talking about wanting to see these two involved, and we did see Selina Cerci come on in the 70th minute along with Caitlin Foord, replacing Stina and Lisa, but we didn’t get Reuteler. Hopefully we’ll see her in the Champions League game this week.

But back to the timing, and Selina immediately gave us a different presence in the box. She had a really good header that went straight at Tullis-Joyce; there was another moment when Kim tried to put her through, and then, in stoppage time, she went down in the penalty area, pulled down by Lundkvist, and I really think that was a penalty. Looking at the replay, I don’t understand how the referee hasn’t given that.

Then Chloe Kelly came on for Ona in the 81st minute, and again I don’t understand why Renee makes this substitution so late. Chloe had a cracking long-range shot that Tullis-Joyce just about managed to palm away.

This late in the game, United are thinking they’re almost out of the building with the three points, and they were doing everything they could to slow the game down.

There were players going down; you could sense the crowd was getting really frustrated and impatient. Renée was furious and had a go at the fourth official on more than one occasion.

Now, United do deserve credit because I thought they defended really well, and I specifically want to mention Andrea Medina, who was Player of the Match. She was excellent. I talked about her in the preview because, while she's only 22 and new to the WSL, I know from her time in Liga F that she’s a real talent, and it was a worry for me to put Olivia Smith up against her on the right wing. She dealt with Olivia really well all game, I thought.

That's also the reason I wanted Lisa Baum on that side instead. Lisa is taller, she looks stronger, and she doesn't necessarily play that position the same way as Liv; she cuts inside a lot instead of always trying to beat the full-back on the outside. I thought she might give Medina a different problem.

Obviously that doesn't mean Lisa would have spent the afternoon running rings around her because Medina might have simply found a way to deal with that as well. She had a very good game overall, and when United signed her, I said they had made an important addition to their squad.

Maya Le Tissier was really good in the middle as well, and United kept getting bodies in front of Arsenal whenever they did find their way towards the penalty area, and while I know a lot of people are going to be on the socials and WhatsApp groups having a moan about what we didn’t do, I think you have to remember that there’s another team on the pitch, and sometimes that other team is doing their job really well, so you have to acknowledge that and give credit where it’s due.

There was another player I was impressed with, and that's Misa Rodriguez.

I've already argued this season that I think she's Arsenal's best goalkeeper, and she didn’t really do much tonight to change my mind. There were a couple of very good saves, especially one from Terland, where I thought the ball was heading into the bottom corner, but Misa's positioning let her get down low and deal with it. Really good goalkeeping. But it wasn't just the saves; it was her vision as well, her ability to look up and not be afraid to try and do something in the moment to create from depth. The long ball to find Ona Batlle before half-time was a great example, and there were several more from her in the second half, when she looked long because United were making it so difficult for Arsenal to progress the ball through the middle.

That's one of the things I love about her, and if you get the chance to watch back, look at her passing accuracy as well; that girl has got a wonderful left foot and pass on her.

So we get into stoppage time, Arsenal are still 1-0 down, and at this point I’ve literally written down, “I’m not looking forward to writing the match report for this one”, but then we equalise through none other than Smilla Holmberg.

Really clever at the back from Arsenal, we switch Steph and Leah around so instead of the in-swinging cross-field ball from Steph’s left foot we get an outswinging long pass from Leah’s right boot towards the far post, and Smilla meets it first time, no hesitation with a defender or two stuck to her and bang, on the volley, back of the net, thank you very much. I don’t know if it’s something to do with that Scandinavian DNA, but that girl has ice running through her veins. What a finish.

The Emirates erupts; it’s 1-1, and I’m so happy for her – and it just vindicates what I’ve been banging on about with her. She’s not just a Right Back; she can play in that more advanced role, and she really does give us something different down that right side. She is deceptively fast and very strong. I think a lot of full backs underestimate her, but I don’t want that to take away from the fact that she really makes things happen on her own.

From that moment, we really looked like we could go on and win the game, but the ref didn’t allow any more time counting for the little bit extra after we scored the goal, and she blew the whistle. I thought Renee was going to murder someone; she was very unhappy about that.

But then we shouldn’t have been doing the late show again, so we can’t have too many complaints. We have dropped four points, which, after Chelsea and Man United winning, is not ideal.

I think we still mustn’t lose our heads because I still believe we’re on the right track. I don’t think it’s some sort of crisis, but I do think Renee needs to look at this carefully, and we’ve got to work on passing with a little more accuracy and our decision-making when we are in possession because at times it was like a tennis rally, with possession being the ball bouncing back and forth between the two sides.

And of course we’ve got to work on faster decision-making in the box against a crowded penalty area, and we’ve got to be quicker to take our shots, preferably not straight at the goalie!

If teams have watched Palace and worked out that the way to play Arsenal is to stay compact through the middle, force us out to the sides, and focus on defending the crosses we put into the box, then Arsenal have to find an answer to that, because we're going to see it again.

For me, the answer is Selina Cerci; she is the player on our side with the kind of aerial threat you need in that situation, and she showed it today.

When we do the full match report and deep dive, I also want to look at the substitutions because my feeling tonight really is that some of them came too late. Caitlin Foord is another example; she showed flashes of what could have been if she’d just had 5 or 10 minutes more to come on and get settled in… I want to understand why Reuteler didn't get her chance as well; I felt this was a game which suited her movement and ability to find the spaces that United seemed to not be giving us.

There are questions about where Lisa Baum is most effective; I still think that’s from the right rather than the left. And there’s now an interesting question over Smilla Holmberg because every time we see her, she gives Arsenal something extra.

I’m going to leave it there. For now, I'm relieved we didn't lose. I thought Manchester United defended very well. Medina was excellent for them, I wish we had signed her… Misa was excellent.

I'm frustrated, and I’m sure all of you are, that Arsenal have dropped another two points at home, but I'm absolutely delighted for Smilla Holmberg coming on and grabbing that qualifier the way she did.

Arsenal 1, Manchester United 1.

Let me know what you made of it on Instagram at @ArsenalWomenTrailblazers, or email me at roberto@arsenalwomentrailblazers.com – I especially want to know what you thought about the timing of the substitutions and whether you thought Selina Cerci should have been awarded that penalty.

I'll be back with the full match report and analysis on Monday.

Keep cool in the meantime Gunners, it might not feel like it, but there are some positives to come out of this.