Arsenal: Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Catley, McCabe; Mariona, Cooney-Cross; Mead, Maanum, Foord; Russo
Substitutes: Zinsberger, Wubben-Moy, Codina, Wienroither, Kuhl, Kafaji, Hurtig, Godfrey, Blackstenius
Arsenal are up to third in the WSL after beating Aston Villa 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium. Alessia Russo scored twice as a dominant Arsenal prevented Aston Villa, who hadn’t lost a game by more than two goals, from having a single shot on target.
With Kim Little and Lia Wälti out, Renée Slegers named a new midfield, with Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mariona playing in central midfield.
First Half
Beth Mead ran onto a superb Mariona through ball and put the ball in the net but was flagged offside. McCabe then had a free kick in a central position, but her shot was straight at Sabrina D’Angelo, who saved easily.
Arsenal took the lead on 18 minutes. Russo, running space, was fouled by Corsie. From the free kick, Cooney-Cross played the ball into the box, and Russo leaped highest and guided her header into the far corner of the goal. 1-0.
Arsenal had an excellent chance to double the lead two minutes mater. Foord and Mariona combined, but D’Angelo saved Mariona’s shot. The rebound came to Maanum, who stuck with her left foot, but D’Angelo, with her foot, blocked the shot away.
Mead played a dangerous cross, but Turner headed away before Russo could meet the cross. From the corner, McCabe went short to Cooney-Cross, who drove into the penalty box and crossed low. Williamson met the cross, but her shot went into the side netting.
Mariona, playing in central midfield, was combining well with Foord and Maanum, and the latter two produced Arsenal’s second goal, scored by Beth Mead on 39 minutes. Cooney-Cross played into Maanum, who combined with Mariona to set Foord away. Foord cutback to Maanum, and her shot hit against the post but Mead, following up, tapped the ball in. 2-0.
Minutes later, Arsenal should’ve made it three. Mariona won the ball of Nobbs as Villa tried to build up. The ball went wide to Mead who delayed, but then cross to Russo. Her shot went straight at D’Angelo, and then Mead’s follow up was blocked behind for a corner.
From a corner, Arsenal played short again, and Cooney-Cross’s cross was goal-bound and D’Angelo had to parry.
Second Half
At half time, Lotte Wubben-Moy replaced Emily Fox, with Katie McCabe going to right back and Steph Catley to left back.
Arsenal had a claim for a penalty, after Russo was bundled over, but Abigail Byrne was unmoved. It was, however, smart play from Mariona, who sharply played into Russo, allowing her to turn.
Mead then played Russo in behind the Villa defence, and she went around D’Angelo to score, only to see the flag go up.
Ebony Salmon then went close for Villa, with her shot flashing across goal.
On the hour mark, Stina Blackstenius replaced Frida Maanum.
Blackstenius’ first involvement was to head wide from Mead’s cross.
Villa then had a good chance to cut Arsenal’s lead in half. Wubben-Moy deflected Martiz’s cross, but the ball came to Dali, who headed over. Jordan Nobbs then volleyed a shot wide following a Villa corner.
Stina Blackstenius made it 3-0 on 70 minutes. Russo and Cooney-Cross combined in midfield with the latter playing wide for McCabe. McCabe’s inswinging ball found Blackstenius breaking the Villa offside trap, and she finished first time. 3-0.
Arsenal made a double change on 75 minutes. Laura Wienroither replaced Steph Catley, while Lina Hurtig replaced Caitlin Foord.
On 83 minutes, Arsenal made a final substitution, with Kathrine Kühl replacing Kyra Cooney-Cross.
Villa had another presentable chance, with Gabi Nunes heading over a cross.
Blackstenius should’ve made it 4-0. McCabe found Hurtig behind Martiz, and she slipped Blackstenius in behind the Villa defence. Blackstenius, one-on-one with D’Angelo, shot wide of the post.
Alessia Russo made it 4-0 in stoppage time. Hurtig drove into the box and cut back, but Paula Tomas intercepted the cutback. Russo, though, won the ball back, and from a tight angle, fired high into the Villa net. 4-0.
Suffering from lack of attacking investment. When we look at the bench is there anyone you’d fancy coming up and looking dangerous? Jesus? Sterling? Leo was a shrewd signing and I have alot of time for him but is he really a player you could imagine driving a team to a league title? Martinelli? Too hot and miss for me. Havertz again always a question mark if he’s league winning quality, for all the things he does well off the ball. Decisions to be made
Why didn’t we get a striker in the summer?? signing Sterling should be considered as a war-crime. this team is bereft of born-scorers, just Clowns bearing nametags
Can I call you Bye?
Partey should score. A free header from 2 meters in front of goal! He missed a sitter just like he missed one against Onana the other day.
Not sure how your comment came into the Women’s team area, mate…
You sound pretty upset after we won 4-0!
Russo scored twice, she is looking like a good attacking investment so I disagree with you there. And Stina came off the bench to score today– sounds like you must have been watching a different match???
If Havertz had Trossard’s sharp shooting, if Trossard had Martinelli’s pace, if Martinelli had Havertz’s understanding of the game.. Saka needed help this season..
Great observations but posted under the ‘wrong’ article😃! Take it easy, John d.
This is the Women’s site – men’s team comments are unwelcome.
Were never in any danger of losing and Russo was outstanding with brilliantly taken second goal. Not for the first time McCabe went loopy and almost got sent off but she has to bolster her reputation for being unstable I suppose – Shame really.
Another clownish shot at McCabe. Pathetic.
She has an annoying habit of wanting to become a liability rather than the player she can be. Criticism may be pathetic according to you but the cap fits McCabe I am afraid.
We’re all for a bit of physicality but some of the things she does are just stupid to the point of becoming a liability. What was the point in tripping over your previous team mate just because they fouled you? An unnecessary booking that could end up costing the team in the long run!
Katie is very passionate a proud Irishwoman. I connect this to RoI getting knocked out in the playoffs for the Euros.
just my biannual observation that arsenal women need their own news section, and it shows today very clearly
Arseblog News covers Arsenal news, from all aspects of the club. Arsenal Women have their own section but the chronological nature of stories is part of how things are published. If you have an issue with that, simply move on and read the stories you want to read.
apparently, people who support the men’s team don’t care about the women’s team, and vice versa. i personally find it inconvenient to have everything in the same place, where people have to be dodging stuff they don’t care about in order to get what they want to read, like economy articles when you wanna read about football — that’s why the mirror’s got a separated football section, despite it covering more news, or this same site separating arseblog from arsenews. we’ve had this discussion before and i don’t mean to be annoying nor disrespectful, we just have different views on… Read more »
“dodging stuff” 😆 Just scroll past! How hard can that possibly be? Some of us are interested in both teams. The current arrangement allows everybody to choose what they look at. I fail to see a problem, unless it’s that some are offended by even having to see the titles of articles about Arsenal’s women. The fans commenting here about the men’s team either a) made a mistake because they couldn’t be bothered to read the article title or the article itself (which is rude!) or b) know full well that it’s the wrong article and are just signalling that… Read more »
they entered the site right after the match, saw the newest post was a match report, and clicked on it thinking it was the men’s match. that’s a logical thing to do for the majority of readers who come here for the men’s team content only. it’s got nothing to do with hate or resentment, and im pretty sure nobody is offended for seeing other articles.
Sorry, not buying it. They can read. They know we have a women’s team. They knew Arsenal men were away from home. And they knew the score of the game.
And in some cases it definitely is about resentment.
It may be an inconvenience to you but a majority can manage to sort through the articles they wish to read and add their comments in the correct places. My take on it is that we are all very lucky that we have such a professionally produced blog specifically about the Arsenal that is provided to all fans free of charge if they want it. If it is that bad then join the editorial team and your job can be to index the articles into absolutely foolproof sections!
“the majority” entered the website trying to talk about the men’s team after the match and was shoved something else, so my understanding is that it is not just me who sees it inconvenient. the “if you don’t like it do it yourself” type of response is unnecessary, since im just pointing out a single detail that could be improved, and not demanding anything at all. that being said, i wouldn’t mind to help improving the tagging system so it’s easier for people to filter their interests, for example.
Anc you can’t make changes for the simple lads who read the header, but then go on to talk about the mens match
At some Arteta needs to look in the mirror and make a commitment to stick with either Martinelli or Leo. Week in week out it’s one or the other based on the previous game’s performance. It’s gotten to a point where neither is playing to their full potential. They are so very different players so it shouldn’t be hard to pick the player that best fits with his vision. Just stop the monkeying around and give one of them the confidence to play a run of games without the threat of the bench every week. I personally hope it’s Leo… Read more »
That baby outfit coloured shirt is cursed, I never want to see it again. Why the hell weren’t we wearing our black away kit?
Shame that most contributors were unable to choose the corrrect forum. The difference is that AWFC won their match.
And the clue is in the title of the article, not exactly cryptic either.
Specsavers deserve to be busy next week! Not difficult, is it? Picture of women with Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 0 written next to it.
Couldn’t care less about the men’s team frankly.
Well, the good thing is you have the choice to just read the things you’re interested in.
I’ve got a brain injury but have never managed to click on the men’s team news and write about the women’s match! It is very clear which is which. Just seems like some readers haven’t checked their ire long enough to see that they’re on the wrong page/section/team today 😁
Absolutely! It just shows that these people don’t bother reading the text at all they are just responding to the headline and even then they get it wrong! Arsenal are going to great lengths to include all of their teams under the club umbrella and yet some of the so called fans either want to segregate the teams or are incapable of thinking for themselves and sorting through a handful of articles to not read the contents properly!
This team is on a rampage!! Slegers is doing a great job
Should have been 5-0 could have been 6-0! Stop looking for managers and talk Renee into staying for at least the rest of the season to find out how she handles squad rotation and scouting for new players. These little blocks of 4 or 5 games are only going to show that she can motivate the team for 4 or 5 games but there is more to managing a club than that.
A little surprised Mariona Caldentey played whole game as one of the 2 deep central midfielders
She did so well, though. Whenever I see her in a new position, I think wow, ok – that’s her best position. Truth is, she is just a phenomenal player who can play anywhere in midfield or as a wide forward.
Can’t say it didn’t work! Thought she was excellent, had license to roam around and link things together, always finding space and other players. Highly effective. Maybe she’s the replacement for Little?
Ready to be shot down and at the risk of restarting the “we should not have let her go” argument, Mariona is doing a bit of what Viv used to do by popping up in unexpected positions and creating links between the players.
Martiz..?
Que?