Alessia Russo 'disappointed' as Arsenal striker scores against former side Man Utd in WSL draw

The England international scored her first goal of the Women's Super League season but the Gunners had to settle for a point after Melvine Malard's late equaliser at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday. The north London side had 19 shots to the hosts' six and 40 per cent possession, leading Russo - who left United for Arsenal in 2023 - to suggest it felt like two points dropped rather than a point gained.

She told Arsenal's website: "I think we’re disappointed not to take the three points. We have really high standards and we want to be winning and we want to be competing so, disappointed. But lots of positives to take and we’ve got a massive block coming up so it’s a quick turnaround now for Brighton.

“I was just saying before that I’m my own biggest critic at times and I want to be scoring as much as I can so to get one today was really nice and nice to celebrate with all the girls. United are a top side. They’ve got lots of structure and lots of discipline, especially at the back, and it’s tough to break down but I think we took our goal and momentum swung.”

Arsenal are already seven points behind table-toppers Manchester City just six games into the season. But there were plenty of positives from the game, Russo is up and running for the campaign, and there is still a long way to go.

Russo is looking ahead to Arsenal's next game on Friday at home to in-form Brighton.

She added: “We know the talent we’ve got in the changing room. We know that we’ve got the style to match it so it’s just about really pushing on now. We’ve got a massive block ahead of us and we can’t take our foot off of the gas at all.”