Hello, Arsenal Women aficionados!
Arsenal Women recorded their 11th consecutive win in all competitions, courtesy of a resounding 5-2 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium. Alessia Russo, Caitlin Foord and Stina Blackstenius were among the goals in what has become over time a very familiar scoreline for a home North London Derby, and propelled the Gunners to third in the league standings, on level with Manchester United but with two games in hand hence full control over an automatic qualification for the UWCL, next season.
Manchester City comfortable win against the Red Devils means that the title is now out of reach for the Gunners, who would remain five points adrift of the leaders even if they win both their games in hand, with only three games remaining. Still, there is a lot to play for in the league, as Renée Slegers and her players can still chase the runners-up spot while they keep pushing in the UWCL and in the FA Cup.
TOO MUCH AND TOO QUICK FOR THE VISITORS
The latest North London Derby was effectively over after 26 minutes, when Alessia Russo completed her hat-trick after intercepting a poor pass from the Spurs’ goalkeeper. The Gunners came out gunning from the very first minute and left Tottenham helpless in their quest for a positive result at their neighbours’ back yard.
A mix of incisive passing through the lines, pin-point deliveries from out wide and efficiency in front of goal resulted in a comfortable win for the hosts, who looked very sharp with the ball and determined to play through Tottenham’s aggressive press. Renée Slegers’ plan to exploit every little miscommunication and miscoordination in the visitors’ pressing paid off, also thanks to our forwards’ ability to make themselves available in the half-spaces and, most importantly, their ability to play short passes on the bounce to release a runner in-behind.
Albeit Tottenham improved a lot in the second half, it is hard to imagine that Arsenal didn’t enter in cruise-control mode by the time Caitlin Foord made it 4-1, easing the pressure on the visitors. My feeling is that, had it been absolutely necessary, the Gunners would have kept playing through Spurs’ press and possibly scored a few more.
Having the game on ice and knowing that they would play another very intense game on Wednesday, made the players slow down and favour control and energy saving over pushing to score more.
HATS-DOWN FOR LESSI
A very welcome first hat-trick for the England international ensured that the North London Derby went in the right direction, on Saturday, and confirmed the forward’s magic moment in front of goal. Alessia Russo has now eight goals in her last six appearances for the Arsenal and 19 overall in all competitions, just one short of her best goals return ever (20, last season).
Renée Slegers was very quick to praise her striker’s overall contribution, because it would be unfair to judge Alessia Russo based solely on her goalscoring numbers. Performances like the ones against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur helped to remind everyone that she is ALSO a fantastic finisher (“the best I’ve ever seen”, said the head coach after the game), but Alessia Russo is a fantastic footballer overall, and a unique player in the broader horizon of the WSL.
She can run, she can pass, she can hold the ball, she can press AND she can finish, with her head, both her feet, through both sheer power or finesse, from the penalty spot or via a direct free-kick – in a way no other player not named Vivienne Miedema can.
Sure, strikers like Khadija Snow and Sam Kerr are wonderful finishers, but their overall game is not as good – or at least not as complete – as Alessia Russo, and that makes a huge difference between an elite striker and an elite player.
400 AND COUNTING
“Leader, Legend, Little” read the big banner deployed at the Emirates Stadium ahead of the North London Derby, on Saturday. A tribute to a wonderful player and fantastic captain who has since climbed to second in the very exclusive list of players with the most appearances for the Gunners (405), behind Emma Byrne (459) but already ahead of Ciara Grant (403).
At 35yo, the former Scotland international is still racking up big minutes in a highly competitive team and dictating the tempo around her, both in the WSL and in the UWCL, and the new one-year extension signed last week hints at more to come from Kim Little.
Every year many (including me…) predict a change in the hierarchy within the squad, and an impeding succession plan for the veteran midfielder, and yet every year Captain Little makes everyone sounds like a fool.
Many came to take her place in the starting XI, only to found themselves on the bench and eventually leave, but Father Time isn’t one to joke with and eventually that moment will come. It will likely come too soon for Kim Little to become the record holder for the most appearances with the famous red & white but allow me to cherish every minute of Kim Little doing Kim Little things on and off the pitch and being the best possible ambassador for the Arsenal.
NEXT UP
A big game awaits the Gunners, on Wednesday night: Leah Williamson and her teammates will take the trip across London to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the return leg of the UWCL quarterfinals. The 3-1 home win in the first leg is a nice cushion for the Arsenal Women team, but the opening stages of that game showed that Chelsea are far from being finished.
Sjoeke Nüsken’s late goal against Aston Villa, on Sunday, breathed some life back into the Blues, who were winless in two games after conceding a draw away at the London City Lionesses in the WSL and losing 3-1 against the Gunners in the UWCL.
Sonia Bompastor’s team will come out of the gate with a strong belief and determination to turn the tie on its head, so it will be interesting to see how the Gunners will go about it: sit deep and ride the storm, hoping to absorb the pressure, or play aggressively to find the opening goal that would break Chelsea?
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.
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