Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Little, Wälti; Mead, Maanum, Foord; Russo
Substitutes: Zinsberger (GK), Williams (GK), Wubben-Moy, Codina, Reid, Wienroither, Cooney-Cross, Kühl, Mariona, Kafaji, Hurtig, Blackstenius
Arsenal have strengthened their Champions League position after beating Juventus 4-0. Frida Maanum opened the scoring, and then Arsenal scored three second half goals to turn the game into a rout, with Arsenal gaining a significant goal difference advantage over Juventus.
Renée Slegers made one change to the Arsenal lineup, with Daphne van Domselaar returning to goal and Manuela Zinsberger dropping to the bench. Mariona returned to the matchday squad, but was on the bench, as the same ten outfielders that started on Friday night kept their place.
First Half
Juventus started well, with Cantore forcing Van Domselaar into a save. Foord then won a free kick, which McCabe took, with Peyraud-Magnin palming McCabe’s shot over the bar. From the corner, Russo headed just wide.
Emily Fox received the ball in midfield and drove through centrally before playing a through ball for Russo. Peyraud-Magnin, though, got to the ball just ahead of Russo, preventing the striker from having a clear chance.
Maanum then drove into the box, but had her shot blocked. She kept possession, though, and fed the ball back to Russo, who shot with her left straight at Peyraud-Magnin.
Russo would then have a chance. She did well to react to a deflected Foord cross, and took her shot early, with Peyraud-Magnin parrying away unconvincingly. Juventus, though, were first to the loose ball with Mead closing in.
Van Domselaar then saved a shot from range.
Fox cut in from the right, got away from Schatzer and shot with her left foot, with the shot just going over the bar. It appeared Peyraud-Magnin got a hand to the shot, but there was no corner given.
On 36 minutes, Lenzini dragged Caitlin Foord down to the ground as the Australian looked to counter. Remarkably, the referee, who was making every single Manchester-based official look like Pierluigi Collina, opted not to give a yellow card.
Arsenal took the lead on 38 minutes through Frida Maanum. It was an excellently constructed goal, with Arsenal keeping possession well before Leah Williamson played into Mead who combined with Little. Little drove away from her marker and passed across to Foord, who played a slipped ball in behind for Maanum, who calmly passed the ball past Peyraud-Magnin. 0-1.
Second Half
From a corner, Wiliamson had a goal bound header parried away by Peyraud-Magnin. Catley looked to latch onto a prodded Juventus clearance, but the goalkeeper was first to the goal.
Arsenal then hit the bar. Foord drove into the box and cut back for Fox at the edge of the area. Her shot beat Peyraud-Magnin but clanged off the bar.
Renée Slegers made a double substitution on 60 minutes. Mariona replaced Beth Mead, and Stina Blackstenius replaced Frida Maanum.
Arsenal threatened again from a set piece. McCabe’s free kick went to the far post, and Foord knocked it back for Williamson, who headed over in front of goal.
Arsenal were nearly made to pay for their profiligacy. Vansgaard was played in behind Catley, but her shot was low and straight at Van Domselaar, who gathered at the second attempt.
Stina Blackstenius made it 2-0 on 75 minutes. She was played in down the left by Mariona, drove into the box and her left footed shot was too powerful for Peyraud-Magnin. 0-2.
On 77 minutes, Lina Hurtig replaced Alessia Russo.
Mariona made it 3-0 on 80 minutes. Hurtig excellently dribbled down the inside left channel, and from the byline cut the ball back. The clearance from Krumbiegel went straight to Mariona, who powered her finish into the net, giving Peyraud-Magnin no chance. 0-3.
On 85 minutes, Laia Codina replaced Emily Fox and Kyra Cooney-Cross replaced Lia Wälti.
Arsenal added a fourth goal on 87 minutes. The move started when Blackstenius held up a long ball for Foord. Foord had to check back, but eventually Cooney-Cross was played down the right of the box and she crossed to the centre, where Foord got ahead of Peyraud-Magnin to prod home. 0-4.
There were four minutes of added time, with the referee, desperate to be the centre of attention again, blowing for full time early, and giving Renée Slegers a statement win.
Well done
How about giving the job to Renee? I think a female coach will be a nice change
Only female coaches in women’s football until a female coach is hired in one of the top 6 leagues in Europe. Continually hiring male coaches in women’s football is preventing opportunity and development of female coaches.
Awful ref. Until 67 mins I thought a juve player was going to have to get a knife out before she got a yellow card. And the mad axewoman cascerino, escaped without a card.
But despite ref incompetence, a great night for us. Was feeling nervous coming into the game. But with such an arsenaly goal, and a 4-0 thrashing, I am oh-so-hopeful for what lie ahead.
I thought in the first half, Juve were getting the better of the decisions, free kicks for fair challenges, and especially the non-corner. Second half seemed better to me.
Yes the ref did improve a bit in the second half but she always appeared to be getting in the way like an extra body in defence! Referees need to keep up with play but not be involved in it!
And the ball hit her 3 times because she was in the way. But she only gave throw ups (can’t remember what they are called, but u know what I mean) for 1 of them
It’s called a drop ball.
“mad axewoman Cascarino” 😆
Spot on!
Whichever way you look at it, this is a very impressive result, superb performance by them all.
How can someone who’s played as much football as Emily Fox maintain such a high standard?
She plays like a right-sided female version of Zinchenko, except that she defends better, in relation to the women’s game. Turning up in the inside-left position, chipping over the keeper with her left foot, sadly onto the bar, for example. You just wonder if she is also that good in goal, because she seems to be able to turn up anywhere on the pitch and do a brilliant job.
I’m beginning to think she’s not real and we’ve all collectively dreamt her!
And that’s after all of the minutes she has put in. What would she be like if she was fresh? Superwoman!
She was sublime
There was another thread a week or so ago when we were discussing USA players as being superior athletes due to the way the game is played stateside. Emily is a prime example.
Eideval out of the picture.This is what you get.Should have bombed him out before the season started & we’ d be top by now.No question.
Building on last Friday..we were great in the first half, sublime in the second. All the subs worked brilliantly. We have wonderfully talented players and finally we are seeing what they can do individually and as a team. This is the real Arsenal Women. We played at a high pace, the mutual understanding was there, as was confidence, so our final balls were much better. We were calm and composed throughout. So much variety in attack, so solid in defence and superb aggressive tackles all over the pitch. Kim was excellent today – the much more positive play we have… Read more »
I for one was quite ready to write Lina Hurtig off at the end of her contract but she is beginning to show why we brought her in. She’s a good header of the ball at both ends of the pitch too and we are a little short of those at the moment. Can you believe these are the same players and same backroom staff that we started the season with. What was Jonas doing with these resources?
God knows. Somehow, despite all the resources, we were always less than the sum of our parts.
I would love to know what went on with JE from the inside because although we still have the same squad issues – no real midfielder backup for Lia Walti, no striker of the calibre of Shaw, Miedema or Kerr, depleted defence, missing our best headers, no role for KK, no definitive no 10 (my vote is for Mariona) – none of these is the insuperable barrier to success that it was when Jonas was in charge. We don’t need excuses.
The difference in the player movements since JE left is stark. He seemed to have a very regimented and inflexible style of play, and that manifested in games with us being risk averse and conservative. I don’t think JE trusted the players enough, so he doubled down on his coaching, with less and less effect. Look at us now! Seeing both our CBs drive down the wings, our RB marauding box-to-box, and our MF consistently attacking the box (rather than shuffling the ball to the other flank on repeat), I’m very hopeful. Renee is certainly making it hard for the… Read more »
That is exactly how I see it. JE isn’t a fool or a terrible person. It wasn’t that the structure was wrong. It’s just that he overemphasised it. Playing structure is supposed to be a road map, or a safety net. Not a straitjacket.
I would love to have seen the match. DAZN kept cutting out on me and I ended up missing the match. Did anyone else have problems with DAZN? And before you ask, yes I did sign in.
Having read the above report it is clear that Renee has done wonders with the team and I do believe that women should coach the women’s game, It is worth remembering that she took over from Jonas at Rosengard and won two consecutive championships. This lady has the knack and is well worth considering for the post of Head Coach.
My DAZN feed cut out once, early in the second half, but luckily I didn’t miss a goal. I will be rewatching tomorrow anyway!
What a terrible referee, she can’t position herself on the field, I think it was her first official game, I was already worried, today I saw a convincing game, decision-making and assertive passes. I wanted to know what Jonas’ plan was for this team that wasn’t working out, he should have left in the game against Everton.
Well done ladies, fantastic performance!
OOOF. That first goal was vintage Arsenal.