Arsenal Women's FA Cup journey ends thanks to heroics from Man City's teen star
What distinguishing factor was eventually going to separate Manchester City and Arsenal remained a stubbornly frustrating riddle for what threatened to reach into eternity at Boreham Wood on Sunday.
But where many would have put their money on an exquisite last-gasp strike from either side's stacked attacking ranks, it would be a defensive wobble and another defender’s awareness that proved the difference, along with the unflappable performance of England keeper Khiara Keating.
Chloe Kelly's splendid free-kick into the box evaded Lotte Wubben-Moy and confused Steph Catley, allowing Spain defender Laia Alexandri to poke home from close range with just over 10 minutes remaining.
But while the Arsenal stadium tannoy announced shortly after the goal that Leah Williamson earned the game's player of the match, it was Keating who was the game's star performer.
For Keating, the display was a banishing of demons. In November, two howling errors from the youngster gifted Arsenal a 2-1 victory in the league, a result which nearly derailed City's title race before the season's midway point. Nearly three months on, whatever deja vu or ghosts might've haunted the teenager were nowhere to be found; rather a performance defined by aplomb and conviction.
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For Arsenal, the sense of deja vu was potent and multi-faceted. After a shock loss to West Ham in the WSL last weekend, this was another flat and uninspired performance, one that eliminated the Gunners from the Women's FA Cup in the fifth round for a second successive season.
Their hopes of adding to the only trophy they've won in the past five years now lies within the Conti Cup and the league, both of which will require Jonas Eidevall's side to find a way past Chelsea.
Sunday’s clash was an unofficial barometer for the remaining league season. In that way, City boss Gareth Taylor can take confidence in a deserved victory as he attempts to win a first piece of silverware since 2022. While the Blues look likely to claim a fifth league title on the bounce, City’s chances in the FA Cup have at least strengthened here with the knocking out of Arsenal.
A mere three points separates City and Arsenal in the league table and at Meadow Park, the tightness of the margins played out in real time. City were the better side throughout the first half, oozing a silky poise with their neat passing and control, though impressively all without mustering anything in the way of a threat.
Arsenal were without striker Vivianne Miedema, missing out through a slight knee irritation. Whether Miedema would have helped Arsenal in the first half is doubtful. The hosts laboured to get into the game, and when they did, could produce little of note, routinely caught out by City’s offside trap.
Laia Aleixandri of Manchester City celebrates scoring in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup (Eddie Keogh - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)The Gunners’ first-half struggles were underlined by what their opponents were executing at the other end. Where Alessia Russo cut a lone figure at the top, latching onto passes and realising her futile isolation without Kyra Cooney-Cross, Frida Maanum, Caitlin Foord or a largely anonymous Beth Mead, Khadija Shaw relished the support of the cavorting trio of Jess Park, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly.
City could feel aggrieved not to have been two goals clear at the break after shouts for a penalty against Shaw falling on deaf ears, the first arriving as Wubben-Moy clattered an elbow into a leaping Shaw and the second arriving shortly after as Foord bundled Shaw over during a free-kick.
“It’s a red card, an absolute stonewall penalty,” attested Fara Williams on BBC punditry duty. A lack of VAR and goal-line technology would become a talking point once again in the game's final throes.
Khiara Keating and Khadija Shaw celebrate progressing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)Arsenal began the second-half with greater urgency and enterprise, doing well to find Mead in space down the right as City's composure looked to be cracking. Taylor’s side were denied two gilt-edged chances as Sabrina D’Angelo, in for the usual Manuela Zinsberger, produced a remarkable save to deny Shaw’s first header, before Williamson was on hand to clear her second off the line.
But the deadlock finally broke as Kelly’s free-kick was stabbed home by an alert Alexandri.
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Arsenal’s hunt for an equaliser was tenacious, with chances falling to Emily Fox and substitute Stina Blackstenius, who also had a penalty shout waved away as Kelly looked to have shoved her off balance just inside the area. But City would ultimately be grateful to Keating, who kept a fourth successive clean sheet as City extended their winning run in all competitions to 10 matches.
Arsenal players were up in arms as they claimed Mead's in-swinging corner in the seventh minute of injury time had gone over the line after a bobbled save by Keating, although replays appeared to show Keating kept the ball from entirely crossing the line. Without goal-line technology, no goal was given.
Nevertheless, for Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman in the stands, the showing will no doubt inspire some selection-related headaches. The saves Keating made were not just remarkable in the quantity but in their quality, her display yet another emboldened example of the 19-year-old belying her tender age.
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