The other Sunday 2-2 draw with Manchester City was less fiery and feral than the Premier League meeting between the clubs but might yet prove to be just as seminal as each side bids to overcome last year’s champions Chelsea.
It was quite the contest, City boss Gareth Taylor equating it to a final, with 31 shots peppering either goal and the most controversial of them emanating from a typical demonstration of everything that marks McCabe down as one of her sport’s leading lights.
The Tallaght player of the match was composed on and off the ball, one defensive highlight from a reel occurring where she quelled the influence of Japanese wide woman Aoba Fujino with a stunning block which she celebrated with a fist pump in front of a 41,000 attendance.
Later, a characteristically crunching tackle on Chloe Kelly preceded Beth Mead’s 81st minute leveller, from which the City player was pinned down by Arsenal midfielder Kim Little, allowing McCabe to deftly chip the ball and hurdle herself over the grappling pair to begin the goalscoring move.
She delivered a deliciously weighted slide rule pass to Rosa Kafaji through and, though she hit the post Mead pounced on the rebound but McCabe’s role in the goal immediately became a viral sensation.
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“She had a very solid game,” enthused her coach Jonas Eidevall.
“It is a great piece of skill on our second goal to set up that situation. Steph Catley not being available, you see how reliable Katie is and has been for us, being able to put in big shifts.”
There was a contrasting view from the other dugout.
Two match officials purportedly told City boss Taylor afterwards that McCabe’s foul was illegal but, with no VAR in operation, the referee crucially did not deem it so and allowed the goal to stand after earlier ruling out an Arsenal effort for offside.
“It’s going to seem really one-sided from me but I was up in the gantry and I could see that the first goal that was ruled out for Arsenal was offside, you could see that clearly,” said Taylor.
“If I’m to be proven wrong I’d like to see it. Similar with the foul. Both the fourth official and the linesman indicated to the radio they agreed it was a foul. Especially the tackle from behind, we were told it was a dangerous tackle – regardless if you get the ball or not. We feel a bit aggrieved on that but it happens.”
Taylor added his voice to those advocating the introduction of VAR.
“I think so. There’s not just us to consider, a lot of other teams and every game probably throws up on of those types of decisions where we might need a second look at it. If it proves that (Katie) McCabe took the ball and didn’t take any of Chloe Kelly before she took the ball then we will stand with it.
“I think it would settle things down a bit, particularly for us guys on the side who don’t know the justification of why. For offside and those ones it’s important to help the officials as much as we can.”
It sets up a crucial week for McCabe’s side, as they seek to avoid a second successive premature Champions League, needing to reverse a 1-0 first leg deficit against Norwegian side Hacken, before facing Leicester City next Sunday.
“We knew what we did in Hacken last time,” Eidevall said. “I thought that was a step backwards for us.
“Now, we need to take two steps forward. We know we need to win the game, we know we need to score goals, so let’s go after that, let’s bring everything on Thursday night, let’s make it a really special European night that doesn’t leave any stone unturned on that pitch in our quest to go into the group stage of the Champions League.”
Liverpool opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Leicester, Leanne Kiernan coming on from the bench while veteran captain Niamh Fahey remained there.
Promoted Crystal Palace has predictions of their potential struggles emphasised when they were humbled 4-0 by Spurs; Abbie Larkin was a second-half replacement but Izzy Atkinson was unused.
In the Championship, the green-tinted Blues from Birmingham confirmed their promotion credentials with back-to-back wins, Louise Quinn amongst the scorers in a 4-0 thumping of Portsmouth, aided by assists from out-of-favour Ireland star Lucy Quinn (2) and Lily Agg.
Celtic will also be in second leg Champions League action this week, looking to Irish defender Caitlyn Hayes to replicate her stunning performance in the narrow 1-0 win against Vorskla Poltava. Saoirse Noonan was unused.
