Marc Skinner’s side withstood several waves of Arsenal attacks, which ramped up once Jayde Riviere was shown a red card after 65 minutes, to earn a hard-fought point.
United primarily set up to absorb Arsenal’s threat in possession and hit them on the break. The exception was their fast start when Fridolina Rolfo headed the visitors' one and only shot on target after five minutes, which Anneke Borbe had to tip onto the bar.
Creating chances was hardly seen as an issue throughout the contest for Arsenal to disrupt Skinner’s resolute back line. Yet, even before the dismissal of full-back Riviere, The Gunners lacked the prolific edge to score the all-important goal.
Five minutes before United lost a player, Skinner’s changes suggested he was eager to claim the three points and still saw opportunities to threaten the European champions. Simi Awujo came on, albeit for a short 11-minute stint, and so did recent forward signing Lea Schuller.
Skinner said: "I just felt that we were just about to make changes to gain momentum, and then we put ourselves on the back foot a little bit. I could have gone into a back five before securing, but we kept the aggressive 4-4-1 so that we could counter.
"You're just going to have limited moments to do so. We can't be doing that, especially in big games, so we'll have to assess it, but I'm so proud of the way the team reacted to that situation.
"There were moments we picked up and transitioned, but they weren't clean enough, even though we'd spoken about it, so it's something we'll assess."
Prior to proceedings, Skinner had evidently thought about the best approach for his United side to come away with something at the Emirates, which involved a balance of risk and aggression with a more measured plan.
"You have to be aggressive, but I think if you come to these games and you open yourself up, most games are won in the second half, you have to have a balance.
"I think you can come to these grounds and get absorbed in the crowd. I actually quite liked our game management at times today, but what I'd like to see is just to be as aggressive as we are with the ball from the off."
Manchester United picked up their first major trophy when they won the 2023/24 FA Cup, and the quest for a WSL crown has been crushed by Chelsea's recent domination.
Rivals Manchester City currently have an eight-point buffer to 4th place Manchester United with a game to spare in the WSL. If United fall short of third place, as the league leaders did last season, they will miss the opportunity for a successive European campaign to build on.
However, as Manchester City have shown this season, it may play to their advantage domestically when the schedule becomes congested.
Skinner’s side have ground to make up. They have likely already lost the chance to challenge the top two, like their opponents have after the draw, but there are competitions to fight for and the way forward could be characterised by more risk.
"I think there's balance to bigger games, but no, I don't want to see us be defensive, especially in the second part of the year, we've got to chase. We've got points to make up, so if we're ever going to finish near it, we've got to be aggressive in those games.
"Man City have had the benefit of not having any European football, no distractions, but it only takes one moment to wobble, so sometimes you have to pray for that and hope that they can do that. But from us, all I can control is trying to win the next game of football."