Narrow Arsenal Defeat For Foxes On Filbert Way
A well-fought performance, that could've warranted a draw on another day, ended in a Barclays Women's Super League defeat as a second-half goal from Frida Maanum ensured three points for the visitors.
Amandine Miquel made no changes to the starting XI that collected an opening day point against Liverpool, with the only adaption being new signing Shana Chossenotte taking Denny Draper's space on the bench.
The Filbert Way action got off to a slow start, with Arsenal dominating plenty of the ball, but struggling to break down a resilient Foxes backline, as the wind whistled around the stadium.
Despite 25 minutes of Gunners control, it was City who had the first attempt on target when Jutta Rantala cut inside and curled an effort to the top left corner, but an incredible save from Daphne Van Domeselaar denied the Fin.
Minutes later, it was Lize Kop performing the heroics when a goalbound shot was expertly turned behind to keep the scores level heading into the break at King Power Stadium.
Ten minutes into the second half, after a promising start to the second period from Leicester, Arsenal took an unfortunate lead when a mistake at the back allowed the chance for the ball to be passed into Maanum who played it into the back of an empty net.
Double changes followed from Miquel to try and force a way back into the game, introducing Deanne Rose onto the right wing, whose pace and pre-season antics were causing concern for opposing defenders.
The second roll of substitutions saw a Leicester debut, for French winger Chossenotte, following her arrival from Stade de Reims in the summer, and sparked a great opportunity, when she broke in behind before picking out Janice Cayman, but the captain's effort was turned behind by Van Domeslaar.
Not long after, the debutant was in again, this time in a one-v-one situation, but as she worked herself into the box, with applied pressure from the Arsenal defender, Chossenotte's effort could only find the body of the 'keeper.
Seven additional minutes were added on to the end of the game, but the visitors' defence held strong and saw out the win, leaving City to rue their missed chances with one point in the standings after two games.