Man City beat Arsenal with Beney's 88th-minute winner
Former City player Kelly's equaliser had looked to have earned draw for visitors
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 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
It's the worst thing, seeing the ball come in under the crossbar on a windy day. I'm not sure how that's a goalkick, but she managed to parry that one away.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal are playing a bit dangerously here. Emily Fox loses possession deep in the Gunners' half but she recovers to stop Khadija Shaw from taking aim.
Daphne van Domselaar has to be on high alert to deal with the in-swinging corner, pushing it up and onto the crossbar.
Comment on the form at the top of this page to have your say
I hope Manchester City can pull off an important victory and get the three points - downside is that I don't want to see Chloe Kelly score against us
Peter
Image source, Getty ImagesMan City 0-0 Arsenal
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Joie Stadium
Despite the weather, it's a decent turn-out in Manchester with a sold-out 338 away fans also here. It's been entertaining so far but neither team has really got a grip of things.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Vivianne Miedema is tugged back by Victoria Pelova as she charges towards the Arsenal goal and that might have just been enough to put the Dutch forward off as she drags a scuffed strike wide.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Arsenal are building it nicely but it's that final ball that is lacking. It needs to be a little bit more precise in those areas for Arsenal.
Image source, Getty ImagesMan City 0-0 Arsenal
A lovely passing sequence by Arsenal as they pile forward but it all comes to an end when Mariona Caldentey's delivery whizzes over everyone in the box and out.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Big chance. Huge chance for Khadija Shaw. She's holding her head up to the sky. She's disappointed.
Great delivery from Alex Greenwood.
Image source, ReutersMan City 0-0 Arsenal
A crucial block by Steph Catley, who sticks out her leg to stop Aoba Fujino from firing home for the hosts.
The ball flicks out for a corner and Khadija Shaw leaps highest at the backpost but she plants her header wide.
Comment on the form at the top of this page to have your say
Lots of possession is all very well but Arsenal have to be ruthless and clinical in front of goal to make it count. One goal wasn’t enough against Aston Villa, it definitely won’t be enough against Man City.
Angus
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
We've got two of the best number nines on show today and it's fascinating to see how they both operate.
It's a bit of a battle of the two nines and who's going to come out on top.
Image source, ReutersMan City 0-0 Arsenal
Ouch. It's a fair challenge from Leila Ouahabi and she gets the ball but she catches Olivia Smith in the face with her knee on the follow through.
The Arsenal forward falls to the ground and receives medical treatment, but she's going to be fine to carry on.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Arsenal are pinning Man City back but they're playing such a high line, so if City get the pass right, then Khadija Shaw has acres of space.
City are finding it difficult to get a foothold on the ball. Arsenal are controlling the tempo here. City need to weather this out.
Image source, Getty ImagesMan City 0-0 Arsenal
Caitlin Foord bursts into the box, waltzing past Kerstin Casparij before her shot is blocked by Jade Rose.
City are penned in.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Olivia Smith is looking lively. She's causing plenty of problems on the right and City's defenders are having to use their physicality to stop her.
Comment on the form at the top of this page to have your say
A nice 0~0 draw will do nicely... I'm a United supporter by the way!
Sam - Dover
Image source, ReutersMan City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Arsenal look good when they're working the ball through the thirds.
Again, great play from Olivia Smith down this right-hand side. She's unlucky not to find Alessia Russo.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Attack after attack from Arsenal.
Kerstin Casparij is fortunate not to give away a free-kick in a dangerous area for stopping Olivia Smith in her tracks as she raced towards the City goal.
Smith is back on her feet and driving down the right wing before delivering a great ball into the box for Alessia Russo, but Ayaka Yamashita gets there before the England striker.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
Niamh Fahey
Former Arsenal defender on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Joie Stadium
Beautiful ball over the top from Yui Hasegawa to her Japanese team-mate. That almost became a fantastic opportunity for Man City.
Man City 0-0 Arsenal
A nice attacking sequence from Manchester City as Yui Hasegawa chips the ball over Arsenal's backline for her Japanese team-mate Aoba Fujino, who can't beat Daphne van Domselaar.
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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