Mary Fowler double in vain as Manchester City loses 4-3 to Arsenal in Women's Super League

Mary Fowler was in red-hot form, scoring twice for Manchester City, but her two goals were not enough to prevent her team from losing 3-4 at home to Arsenal in the Women's Super League (WSL). Despite Fowler's contribution of 5 goals and 3 assists in her last five WSL matches, Manchester City ultimately suffered a disappointing defeat.

In this match, Fowler's Australian national teammates, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Steph Catley, played for Arsenal. Fowler twice pulled Manchester City back from a tough position, but her header in the 20th minute and a penalty in the second half ultimately failed to secure a victory for her team.

Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey opened the scoring just 42 seconds into the game, followed by a header from Lotte Wubben-Moy in the 8th minute from a Cooney-Cross free-kick, giving Arsenal a two-goal lead. Fowler then headed in a cross from Aoba Fujino on the right side at the far post, skillfully placing the ball into the net. Former Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema equalized the score five minutes into the second half.

A minute later, Arsenal's Frida Maanum regained the lead, but the Gunners' joy was short-lived. Australian national team captain Catley was judged to have fouled Fujino in the penalty area. Catley protested that the foul occurred outside the box, but Fowler calmly converted the 55th-minute penalty to level the score again.

However, Arsenal proved stronger in the final stages of the match, with Swedish international Stina Blackstenius scoring the winning goal from a low cross by Beth Mead, securing a deserved victory for the away side. Manchester City currently sits fourth in the WSL standings with 25 points, 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea, while Arsenal (27 points) are in third place. Manchester City and Arsenal will face each other again in the Women's League Cup semi-final on Friday, Australian Eastern Time.