Arsenal fell to a cruel stoppage time defeat to Chelsea in the Conti Cup Final on Saturday evening, despite dominating the game. Tim Stillman spoke to Gunners forwards Caitlin Foord and Jordan Nobbs pitchside after the match exclusively for Arseblog News.
On the mood in the dressing room after the game…
CF: We’re just disappointed, we felt like we really dominated and had the better chances and we think we outplayed them, but we know that the score line is all that matters and they scored their chances. Joe just said to us that football is cruel sometimes, we played well, we created chances, it just didn’t go our way today. He said he couldn’t be prouder of us playing the Arsenal way.
JN: We know we lost, but we also know that we played well today and we feel proud of the performance. We’re gutted but we still have our heads held high and we’re very proud of each other and on another day, that game would have gone a different way.
On the international break coming at a good time to clear heads…
CF:I think it will be good for us to get away, after a disappointing defeat like this in a cup final, we don’t want to dwell on it, now we’re forced to move on with the international games and come back refreshed to get on with the rest of the season and finish strongly.
JN: It will be great to have that time and refresh and go again, I just hope we all come back fit and in a good place.
On Joe’s message at half-time…
CF: He told us to keep playing our football because we were creating plenty and that’s what we did, we definitely felt like it was coming and once we got the first goal, we felt like we were going to get another one. But they got us on the counter and it was unfortunate for us because we were really pushing for another goal, but that’s football sometimes.
On executing the game plan effectively…
CF: We dominated the game, we got the tactics right, I think we got pretty much everything right but just didn’t have enough final product.
JN: We’ve got a great team and a great squad, injuries happen, but I’m so proud of the girls today putting in that performance. It’s disappointing because we know we can’t concede goals like we did and we know we need to take our chances. I thought we were going to be the ones to score a last minute winner, but Chelsea are one of the top teams around and we just couldn’t stop them from scoring.
A heartwarming moment after the final whistle ?@JordanNobbs8 gifted a young fan her #ContiCup runners-up medal ? pic.twitter.com/rzRGeIaPSK
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 29, 2020
On the performance of Ann Katrin Berger in the Chelsea goal…
CF: She pulled out some massive saves for them and she showed top quality today and then at the other end, Chelsea took their chances.
JN: All credit to her, she must have saved five or six shots, she was dominant and played fantastically today. She was the difference in stopping us from scoring, we had a lot of possession and I’m very proud of the team today.
On Jordan playing on the left of midfield today…
JN: I really enjoyed it, I’ve always said to Joe I don’t really care where I am on the pitch I just want to play for this club. The movement was familiar for me from playing out wide for England for a long time, I like coming inside. I think maybe I need to shoot a little bit more at times, but I really enjoyed playing there today.
On missing too many chances in recent games…
JN: That’s our main thing at the moment, but we’ve also conceded sloppy goals today, so as a team we need to tidy up- especially when we’re playing the best. We can maybe get away with it in some games, but when we play teams like Chelsea, we have to be on it and take our chances.
Win or lose, these girls are such a class act
Proud to call you “my team”???
This f*king hurts.
Arsenal played hard and very well today–dominated possession, dominated the game, for the most part, had Chelsea on the back foot throughout–but gave up a sloppy early goal and, as Foord says, did not have enough final product to win a game they should have won. The thing is, no matter how good a possession team you have, and that is Arsenal’s strength, it’s hard to score when good/solid teams have numbers back, and opponents have had numbers back all season. Miedema is getting a lot of defensive attention, and goals have been harder to come by this season. IMO… Read more »
The better team definitely lost today, terrible shame, getting a bit tired of the bbc website love in of Beth England who can literally do no wrong at the moment.
Viv is the better striker yet barely get’s a mention on the website apart from the 11:1 victory earlier on in the season when she got a double hatrick! I also hope Viv starts putting a few goals away soon because it would be criminal if she did not get the golden boot!
Sure Beth England is scoring and I hope she doesn’t overtake Viv but at least BT Sport gave player of the game to the right person and the real reason we lost, Ann-Katrin Berger.
As for the BBC, the British Biased Corporation, I’ll be glad when are not forced to pay for them any longer even though we hardly ever watch their programmes.
Really proud of Arsenal women today without a shadow of doubt by far the better team lost. Arsenal WFC you rock.
At least they looked pretty.