Man United's green shoots, Arsenal's goal struggles continue and Phallon Tullis-Joyce shines: THINGS WE LEARNED from the Gunners' late draw in blockbuster WSL clash

· DailyMail

TARA ANSON-WALSH AT EMIRATES STADIUM: Arsenal snatched a late draw at home against Manchester United to ensure their unbeaten start to the season remained intact.

Green shoots at United

After the worst start in their WSL history for both points (zero) and goals conceded (seven) from their opening two defeats to London City Lionesses and Chelsea , the last thing United needed was a trip to the Emirates.

'Get this horror set of fixtures over and then the season can really begin' was the word among the fans.

It will have been a pleasant surprise to United fans, then, to have seen this resilient performance at one of the WSL’s toughest grounds. It also suggested that the tinkering behind the scenes by new manager Eva Olid may be beginning to take shape.

The Spanish manager has repeatedly called for her side to be braver, and they were that and then some here.

Where they spent their first couple of games in a hurry to implement Olid’s desire to attack, they were more patient here, and it paid off. Hinata Miyazawa and Julia Zigiotti Olme were superb in midfield, and Zigiotti Olme was rewarded with her poacher’s goal in the 67th minute.

An undercooked pass back from Georgia Stanway to Steph Catley was seized upon by the Swedish midfielder, who coolly slotted home before speeding over to celebrate in front of the United fans. It was a clear moment of catharsis after a torrid start to the season for United.

They will be disappointed not to have seen this one through, but there was noticeable progress from the last two games for them to take forward.

Arsenal profligate in front of goal

As this game dragged into the closing minutes, another missed chance by Arsenal was met by a chorus of groans. These fans are becoming all too familiar with this at the moment.

Time and time again, the Gunners were unable to find the back of the net. Olivia Smith, usually one to rely on for a worldie, spent much of the game frustrated by her marker, Anna Sandberg.

Alessia Russo also struggled, while Stina Blackstenius was denied from a strong position by Phallon Tullis-Joyce at the end of the first half.

Heading into this game, Arsenal had scored just once from 43 shots in their opening two games, and they appeared to be heading for their first back-to-back league game without a goal in three years until Holmberg rectified the damage in the last minute of the match.

Despite this, Renee Slegers will know that her team need to pull their socks up in the goalscoring department if they are to hunt down the title this season.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce worth her weight in gold

Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce put in another superb display here at the Emirates on Saturday.

While she may be limited in her long-range distribution, she more than makes up for it with her shot-stopping abilities.

Her best moment came deep into the first half, when Stina Blackstenius’ header was hit with power and appeared destined for the roof of the net, only for the 29-year-old to tip it over.

In the second half, she popped up again, keeping out Caitlin Foord’s low shot from reaching the far-right corner of her goal.

The American shot-stopper is still being considered by Emma Hayes among a pool of candidates to wear the No 1 jersey for the record four-time world champions at next summer’s tournament in Brazil.

How United fare this season could impact those chances. More performances like this, though, from both her and the team, and she’ll be on that plane.

What you give is what you get

There’s nowhere quite like the Emirates for putting into perspective the difference in meaningful investment between two WSL sides.

The Lionesses’ European successes have been watershed moments in the evolution of the women’s game, and savvy clubs such as Arsenal have capitalised. At the Emirates on Saturday, there were 29,853 in attendance. This is the norm these days.

Recent research conducted ahead of the new season shows that the boom in popularity of women’s football is not going to slow down any time soon.

Data collected by Nielsen, a leading firm in media measurement, analytics and insights, showed that the average standalone valuation of women’s football sponsorship deals has increased by 42 per cent over the past year alone.

The WSL has emerged as a standard-bearer for this commercial progress. Barclays has doubled its previous financial commitment as title partner, taking the investment to £30million over three years.

There have also been bridges into popular culture, illustrated by the women’s football focus of the latest series of Ted Lasso and Nike’s recent record-breaking deal with London City Lionesses.

Manchester City Women only launched their own women’s football brand a couple of weeks ago, while Brighton are building the first purpose-built women’s football stadium. Arsenal and Chelsea have relocated permanently to their men’s stadiums.

And Manchester United... well, what you see is what you get.

A decent squad of players, albeit one that was unnecessarily pared back in the summer. A very decent fanbase. A new, relatively inexperienced manager still learning the ropes.

And beyond that? Pretty much nada.

There is no talk of scaling up. No plans to relocate away from the 12,000-capacity Leigh Sports Village.

Imagine what would happen if Manchester United, the third most valuable club in the world according to Forbes, threw their hat into the ring for real.

A trip to north London on a WSL weekend gives you a pretty good idea, though.

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