Vivianne Miedema scored on her return to the Emirates Stadium as her Manchester City side drew 2-2 with Arsenal in the Women’s Super League (WSL) on Sunday.
The WSL all-time top scorer left Arsenal after seven years this summer to join title rivals Manchester City in arguably the biggest transfer of the window.
Her strike late in the first half cancelled out Frida Maanum‘s eighth minute strike that had put Arsenal ahead.
City took the lead near the hour-mark through Jess Park’s sublime half-volley before Beth Mead came off the bench to rescue a point late on for Arsenal.
Miedema’s return to Arsenal was the biggest storyline of the opening weekend of the WSL and she received a warm reception from the 41,818 in attendance at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal, who were missing England captain Leah Williamson because of concussion protocols began nervously and Miedema nearly punished the home side’s sloppiness early on after pouncing on a loose ball and catching goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger off her line. Her instinctive shot inched just wide off the post as sighs of relief went around the stadium.
Moments later, that relief turned to roars as Arsenal went down the other end and took the lead. Caitlin Foord broke down the right and put in a low cross that fell kindly to Maanum, who swept home with aplomb.
Jonas Eidevall’s side grew in confidence after the goal, showing greater purpose and poise in possession. City were overrun in midfield and barring a close-range effort from Fujino, were kept at bay by Arsenal.
However, the visitors didn’t relent in their pressing, and it bore fruit in the 42nd minute, when Miedema won the ball off Kim Little on the edge of the box and unleashed a shot that went in after a deflection off Laia Codina.
Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Miedema’s celebrations were typically muted as her new teammates piled on top of her.
A frantic end to the first half nearly ended with Arsenal back ahead, after Stina Blackstenius found herself one-on-one with Ayaka Yamashita but had her shot saved.
Arsenal began the second half with similar attacking thrust and Foord had a goal disallowed for offside soon after the restart.Â
City maintained their shape and took the lead near the hour-mark after Park’s half-volley from the edge of the box crashed in off the bar.
The goal imbued Arsenal with greater urgency while on the other end City came close to getting a third with Bunny Shaw and Miedema both forcing saves from Zinsberger.
When the former Arsenal star was subbed off, she received warm applause from the crowd and she reciprocated the gesture.
Former teammate Maanum said: “It is always a bit special those types of moments and games. I played with Viv [Miedema] for three years at Arsenal and she meant a lot for the whole club.”
Park, who put City in a momentary lead said: “Great for her [Miedema], we all tried to be around her. It was really nice to see her score that goal, I think she needed that.”
Eidevall threw on Alessia Russo and Mead in search of an equaliser and the Arsenal No. 9’s close-range finish in the 81st minute saw the points shared in this frenetic clash between two of the league’s top teams.
“I’m really happy with the reception I got from the Arsenal fans, and the most important thing today was to start the season well with the new team. It’s always nice to get off that zero again and get a goal. From now on it’s just focus on the next games,” Miedema said.
Later in north London, Tottenham boasted four different scorers as they welcomed promoted Crystal Palace to the top flight with a hammering that saw Eagles substitute Brooke Aspin sent off in second half stoppage time.
That result was enough to put Spurs level at the top with Brighton, for whom Kiko Seike scored the first-ever hat trick by a WSL debutant as they thumped Everton on Saturday.
Things went only slightly better for Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who were held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Leicester City on Sunday.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
