A team from Manchester and a team from London will have been pleased with this result, but neither of them were here. Manchester City and Chelsea were the real winners, as Arsenal and Manchester United played out a goalless draw and lost further ground in the title race.<\/p>\n
United played the final 25 minutes with 10 players after Jayde Riviere was sent off for a second bookable offence, a late challenge on Caitlin Foord, but a resolute United withstood Arsenal\u2019s late pressure.<\/p>\n
It means Manchester City could be 10 points better off than third-placed Arsenal by the end of the weekend \u2013 City play Everton on Sunday \u2013 while Manchester United are a point further behind. Arsenal, without a WSL title since 2019, left the pitch dejected, downbeat and disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make it harder for ourselves with this result. We wanted three points today, so that\u2019s two points lost,\u201d said Ren\u00e9e Slegers, but she declined to give up on the title. \u201cAs long as it is still possible, we keep on chasing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That now feels like a long shot, with Manchester City in such relentless form<\/a>. Arsenal have lost one league game this term, but this was their fifth draw and a lack of a ruthless edge was their downfall again, in a game that ultimately did little to warm the crowd of 37,627 on such a cold day.<\/p>\n Marc Skinner, who was taking charge of his 100th WSL games as Manchester United head coach, similarly was not conceding the title, saying: \u201cI\u2019m not going to say we\u2019re out of it. We\u2019re going to chase, as we always will.<\/p>\n \u201cManchester City have had the benefit of not having any European football, no distractions, but it only takes one moment of wobble. Sometimes you have to pray for that and hope that they could do that [wobble].\u201d<\/p>\n Skinner refused to blame Riviere despite her dismissal. \u201cIt\u2019s not the smartest [thing to do], but I\u2019m not going to throw her under the bus. She\u2019ll learn from it, we\u2019ll learn from it. Knowing Jayde, she\u2019ll be devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n Jayde Riviere (right) is shown the red card by Abigail Byrne. Photograph: Cat Goryn\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n