Man City beat Arsenal with Beney's 88th-minute winner
Former City player Kelly's equaliser had looked to earn visitors draw
Shaw and Casparij scored for hosts either side of Caldentey leveller
City go second and cut Chelsea's lead to one point
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Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Arsenal are forcing it with hopeful balls without much of a plan.
Plenty of time left yet to remain in control and work some better opportunities.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
A last roll of the dice from Renee Slegers.
Kyra Cooney-Cross and Frida Maanum are on for Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Some sloppy passing from Manchester City at the back and the ball ends up with Stina Blackstenius, who can't keep her shot down.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
The corner ends up all the way back with Ayaka Yamashita.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Manchester City are looking dangerous again.
Daphne van Domselaar is needed once more to stop a Khadija Shaw effort, parrying her header out for a corner.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
A minimum requirement for Arsenal is a draw, so they're going to have to go for it. They're going to have to take risks.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Vivianne Miedema limps off to a standing ovation and is replaced by Laura Coombs.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
It had to be a goal. One-on-one with the keeper, Stina Blackstenius has to score.
These defensive mistakes are putting my heart in my mouth
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Now it's Stina Blackstenius' turn to have a go. And she probably should do better.
The Sweden striker latches onto a loose ball and races through on goal but Ayaka Yamashita quick off her line to smother the shot and City eventually get the ball away safely.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Beth Mead almost makes an instant impact, but Ayaka Yamashita gets down quickly to stop the England winger's strike from finding the bottom left corner of the City goal.
Image source, ReutersMan City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
It's easy to gather what the Man City fans think about that Chloe Kelly substitution. Certainly a mixed reception.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Joie Stadium
There's a nervous laugh and a few groans coming out of the City supporters' end when it's announced Stina Blackstenius is making an entrance. She's had plenty to say in previous fixtures between the two sides here.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Manchester have been penned into their own half since restoring their lead. They won't mind that as long as they keep Arsenal out.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal waste a couple of corners and now it's time for the changes.
Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius and Beth Mead are on.
Caitlin Foord, Victoria Pelova and Olivia Smith make way.
Image source, ReutersMan City 1-1 Arsenal
Renee Slegers is getting some attacking changes ready.
Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius and Beth Mead all look ready to come on.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
What a save. What an unbelievable save from Daphne van Domselaar.
The reflexes are unbelievable to parry that ball away from a Khadija Shaw header into the bottom corner.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal are on the ropes! They almost concede another but Daphne van Domselaar comes to the rescue to stop a bullet header from Khadija Shaw.
The Jamaica striker was completely unmarked.
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
It's really sloppy from an Arsenal perspective. It didn't look like a dangerous cross.
There were two, three chances to get the ball away and they fail to do so, and it's bundled over the line.
Image source, Getty Images
Kerstin Casparij (61 mins)
Manchester City are back in front.
It's more brilliant centre-forward play by Khadija Shaw who heads the ball across the face of goal. It's parried away by Daphne van Domselaar but there's a scramble in the six yard box and the ball flicks off the foot of Kerstin Casparij and trickles in.
Image source, ReutersMan City 1-1 Arsenal
Andree Jeglertz makes his first change. Summer signing Iman Beney is on for Grace Clinton, who has had a quiet afternoon.
Beney is thrown straight into the action, taking a pop at goal from the edge of the box but she blasts it over the bar.
Man City lost this home fixture in the past two seasons
Iman Beney's late goal gave Manchester City a crucial victory over title rivals Arsenal and moved them to within a point of leaders Chelsea in the Women's Super League.
Arsenal substitute Chloe Kelly, making her return to former club City, thought she had dealt a blow when she equalised with fewer than 10 minutes to spare.
Renee Slegers' side came from behind twice but City, deserving of their victory, hammered the final nail in the coffin when Beney coolly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar late on.
Khadija Shaw had earlier headed City in front before Mariona Caldentey's superb equaliser early in the second half.
Defeat for European champions Arsenal leaves them five points behind Chelsea and without a win in their past three matches - a damaging start to their hopeful title challenge.
It is a significant result for City, who suffered defeat by Chelsea on the opening day and could not afford to drop points to another rival.
Having started the season under new boss Andree Jeglertz with a narrow 2-1 defeat by Chelsea, City knew they had to make up ground to mount a title challenge.
Defeating another key rival in Arsenal was the perfect way to do so and they have closed in on Chelsea as a result, sitting just one point behind having each played five games.
What will be even more pleasing is the manner in which City took their chances at key moments, capitalising on a period of first-half pressure before responding to Arsenal's early second-half equaliser, and again with minutes to spare.
They were the side who looked in control for larger periods and created more dangerous opportunities, often pushing Arsenal's backline into mistakes.
Shaw was at her best, causing problems with her devious runs in behind and presence in the box, while Aoba Fujino was lively down City's right-hand side.
It was also another impressive showing from full-back Kerstin Casparij - she is quickly becoming one of the most influential players in the WSL.
There will be concern as to how City allowed Arsenal back into the game twice, but given the high stakes in matches between the WSL's top four, it won't bother them much.
There were plenty of eyes on England forward Kelly, who left Manchester City in the summer in a permanent deal following a topsy-turvy transfer saga that ended with Kelly accusing some at her former club of attempting to "assassinate her character".
She was cautiously left out of the starting XI by Slegers, who has preferred record-signing Olivia Smith on the right-hand side so far this season, but was needed in the second half.
A ripple of sarcastic cheers and boos could be heard in the City supporters' section when Kelly made her introduction but she had the perfect response.
A lovely, curling effort pulled Arsenal back from 2-1 down and Kelly wheeled away in celebration, thinking she had salvaged a crucial point for the Gunners.
However, it was not Kelly who would have the last laugh as City refused to leave without three points and came straight back at Arsenal to deal the final blow.
Instead, Kelly and her Arsenal team-mates left the pitch to chants of "Chloe, what's the score?".
Manchester City travel to Liverpool on Sunday, 12 October (16:45 BST) in their next WSL match.
Meanwhile, Arsenal's defence of their European title begins on Tuesday, 7 October as they host record holders OL Lyonnes at Meadow Park (20:00 BST). They are back in WSL action on Sunday, 12 October against Brighton at the Emirates (14:30 BST).
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Chelsea | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
|
2 Manchester City | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 12 |
|
3 Manchester United | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 11 |
|
4 Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
|
5 Arsenal | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
|
6 Brighton & Hove Albion | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
|
7 Everton | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 3 |
|
8 Leicester City | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 3 |
|
9 London City Lionesses | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 3 |
|
10 Aston Villa | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 2 |
|
11 Liverpool | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
|
12 West Ham United | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 14 | -12 | 0 |
|
Manager: Andrée Jeglertz
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Renee Slegers
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Andrée Jeglertz
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Renee Slegers
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
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