A point gained or two dropped? Analysing Arsenal's draw with United

The Gunners' attack was stifled against Manchester United

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Arsenal played out their first goalless draw under Renée Slegers, drawing a blank away to Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village. In what was an early-season top-of-the-table clash, both sides cancelled each other out in what was a drab encounter featuring few chances. Let's take a look at how the two sides played out a stalemate.

Reid the game

Going into Sunday's match, a lot of focus had been placed on Katie Reid. During the week, Reid had spoken to the media, where she had mentioned the importance of players winning their battles against United. In this regard, Reid excelled, winning five out of six of her ground duels, as well as blocking a goal-bound shot after Daphne van Domselaar had been beaten.

On the day, Manchester United's primary route to goal was to play through balls to Melvine Malard, something that they tried to do from the very first minute. Speaking to The Cutback in the week, Katie McCabe had spoken about Reid's deceptively good pace, saying: “I don't think people realise how fast she is,” and this could be seen in Reid's performance on Sunday. On multiple occasions, United tried to get in behind the Arsenal defence, only for Reid to sweep up on the cover. We can see an example of this in the third minute. Toone looks to play a through ball to Malard, but the France international is beaten by Reid, who can pass back safely to Van Domselaar.

On the ball, this was Reid's most composed display yet. Her passing accuracy still needs some work – she can be a little speculative with her long balls, completing just 33% of her long passes against United, but her short passing accuracy has quickly improved – she completed 97% of her short passes on Sunday, a massive improvement on the 79% she managed against London City Lionesses. On top of this, there was a streetwise aspect to Reid's game, winning three fouls to relieve pressure.

We can see an example of this below. Under pressure from Malard following a ball over the top, she is able to get her body in the way of the centre forward to win a foul.