Good morning, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Italian coaching legend Arrigo Sacchi, back when he was leading AC Milan to back-to-back European Cups and Clubs World Cup, often stated that it takes coraggio, cuore e culo to win a football game – which roughly translates to courage, heart and……..luck.
It surely took the three of them to edge past a Manchester City side that surely didn’t deserve to head back north empty-handed.
That’s not to say that our players didn’t fight, didn’t have their moments and didn’t deserve something off Sunday’s game at Meadow Park, but this win feels a bit like a smash & grab, especially when you consider when we scored, and how: the opener came after Manchester City pushed us back deep in our half for ten very long minutes, and came after Khiara Keating miskicked her clearance, giving the ball away on the edge of her penalty area. From that moment, though, we did everything very well and Steph Catley’s sublime finish was the cherry on a tasteful cake, baked by Victoria Pelova and Caitlin Foord. The second and final goal, when the game looked set for a draw, came thanks for another mistake from the Manchester City goalkeeper, who missed the ball when coming out of her box to head the ball away, paving the way for Stina Blackstenius to seal three vital points for the Gunners.
In between, Kim Little missed a penalty to double our lead – and this time Khiara Keating was great when deflecting the ball off the inside of the post – and we defended brilliantly against Shaw, Fowler, Kelly and Hemp, especially on crosses. Lotte Wubben-Moy and Amanda Ilestedt teamed up brilliantly to clear the numerous balls that flew into the box, Lia Wälti and Victoria Pelova were alert to close down Bunny Shaw when she tried to linkup the play in midfield and both full-backs were also very good off the ball.
It was a very gritty performance from the players, a spirited display against an opponent that played exactly the way Jonas Eidevall said they would, yet were incredibly effective in doing so, making it very difficult to stop them.
The win against Manchester City, the third straight 2-1 win in the league, is invaluable because it takes us to the pool of the four team who collected 10 points in the first 5 games, together with Liverpool, Tottenham, and Manchester City – 3 points short of Chelsea, who are leading the race. It is also invaluable because it takes a lot of pressure off the coach and the players, who are now back where they were expected to be a fully into the title race, whereas another result would have kicked us back to the floor and possibly a bit too far away from the top.
Setting the Conti Cup aside for a second, the next three fixtures see us play Leicester and Brighton away, then West Ham at home, while others will be tangled into some tricky fixtures between them, like the Manchester derby or Chelsea hosting Liverpool. We are far from being fully healed and firing, but this win will do wonders to our belief and allow the players to breathe a bit, after several must-win games.
Jonas Eidevall recalled Amanda Ilestedt and Cloé Lacasse in the starting XI, benching Laia Codina and Noëlle Maritz in the process, and surprised many by selecting Katie McCabe at right-back while most of us assumed that we would play with a back-three. Instead, Jonas Eidevall kept the team very narrow in the build-up and allowed our wingers to receive the ball in one-v-one situations higher on the pitch, instead of moving the ball wide too quickly, something that Jonas Eidevall himself referenced in the post-game press conference. He also asked Lia Wälti and Victoria Pelova to keep an eye on Shaw, whenever she would drift towards the midfield, to limit her impact in the build-up and restrict her involvement in the pocket of space in front of our defensive line.
When in possession, the players struggled a lot to put together a convincing string of passes, especially in the opening minutes, and suffered when put under pressure by Manchester City wingers, who were both very aggressive without the ball. Things improved once we scored, but the main factor in changing the momentum of the game was our players, especially Manuela Zinsberger and the center-backs, being quicker and more incisive with their long passes out wide. As soon as we started exploiting the spaces vacated by Manchester City wingers, always very eager – or too eager – to press high on the pitch. Although we didn’t create many clear-cut chances, this approached helped keeping the visitors at bay (sort of…) and limit their opportunities to win the ball in dangerous areas, which is their specialty. As soon as the players got heavy legs, Manchester City got more and more dangerous and it required a fair bit of luck to keep the score level, then the Stina Blackstenius goal simply happened, out of the blue.
Jonas Eidevall sent her in, sensing that the team needed a target to aim at when kicking the ball up field and that the Swede could be the most dangerous option on the counter, given her ability to run in behind. His choice was rewarded, perhaps beyond its merit, when the former Häcken forward was allowed to roll the ball into an empty net, three minutes from time. The end of the game was a nervy affair, as someone in the crowd required urgent medical attention and the match was stopped, then restarted. Luckily, the person in needs of help recovered well and the players on the pitch resisted Manchester City’s final assault, with Manuela Zinsberger tipping over the bar a powerful strike from Mary Fowler. The referee blew the final whistle with two minutes remaining from the ten minutes of added-time, which seemed odd at first, but none really cared, given what almost happened on the stands.
The next game will see us play Bristol City in the Conti Cup group stage, at Meadow Park, on Thursday night. Jonas Eidevall will surely rotate his players and it might be a good opportunity to give Beth Mead her first start of the season, allowing her to put valuable minutes into her legs.
Then, the chase for the first title since 2019 will resume.
Speak to you soon!
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
You need to edit the headline, the score was 2-1