Arsenal 2-1 Everton
By Aimee Logan 22/1/24
Picture: Arsenal celebrate after Beth Mead secures the victory Credits: Arsenal.com
The cold weather at Borehamwood didn’t stop the Gunners today as they led Everton to a 2-1 victory in front of a loud home crowd. Despite the risk of the game not going ahead, Arsenal’s dedicated fans showed up in full force to welcome the WSL back after the Christmas break.
The home advantage seemed to be working for The Gunners as Beth Mead rattled the crossbar in the fifth minute of play. This wasn’t Arsenal’s only chance withing 10 minutes as shots came from Alessia Russo, Katie McCabe, Victoria Pelova and Vivianne Miedema but they all just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Caitlin Foord was caught offside as Arsenal continue to dominate the visitors in attack, but seconds later, Foord opened the score sheet for the Gunners in the 9th minute of play. The Matilda’s forward has been breaking through the Everton defensive line since kick off, making Arsenal’s early lead inevitable.
Despite consistently dominating on attack, Everton spotted an opening in The Gunners’ midfield. A shot from outside of the box from Snoeijs caught Arsenal keeper, Manuela Zinsberger, off guard, and the ball drifted into the back of the net making the sides level. A lack of communication along the back line took away the opportunity for Arsenal to take a clean sheet away from the fixture: an arguably recurring theme for The Gunners.
Picture: Katja Snoeijs (25) celebrates with Karoline Olesen (left) after their attacking move brought their team level Credits: Everton Women twitter
The away side were given little chances to add to this attack in the first half as Arsenal continuously pressured the Everton defence.
There were elements of Everton’s squad that showed the level that the side has reached in recent years. Heather Payne strode past Foord on the wing to open a wave of attack for her team, but no one was there to get past Lotte Wubben-Moy who has superbly been holding the defensive line for Arsenal.
Wubben-Moy was voted, by fans, as Arsenal’s player-of-the-month for December, and this is definitely testament to the number of minutes she’s had on the pitch performing each week for her club. This fixture was no different: in partnership with Amanda Ilestedt and new signing Emily Fox the defensive line, they remained structured throughout the match.
The first half was closed with a strike from Beth Mead that gave the home side a goal advantage going into the break.
When the second 45 minutes kicked off, the advantage remained in the hands of the home side as they continued to test Brian Sorensen’s team. Brosnan was called upon by her teammates, multiple times, to make impressive saves to keep her team only trailing by one goal.
The match, as a whole, was very physical as players from both sides found themselves stuck in powerful tackles and blocks from the opposition. This gave opportunities for players from either side to perform in the midfield.
A player that stood out to me from Everton was Clare Wheeler. In her partnership with Payne in the midfield, she consistently promoted an attack for her team as she tested the opposition. Her through balls to players in Everton’s front line, although they didn’t result in a goal, it created more opportunities for the visitors to dominate. I think her impact in the midfield meant that Everton could be on the ball more in the second half.
Again, for the home side, another Australian player that impressed was Caitlin Foord. She opened her team’s account in the fixture but had plenty opportunity to increase her tally even more. Even though she didn’t score anymore goals today, her movement on and off the ball should shut down the criticism she has received in recent weeks.
The Arsenal Women Supporters Club named Switzerland captain Lia Walti as their player of the match for the second week in a row, something that is hard to argue with. Walti’s ball handling in the midfield consistently improved Arsenal’s opportunities to score more goals. Her finest work of the game was her perfect pass to Mead on the back post to secure her team the victory.
The game finished in a 2-1 victory for the home side, but Everton’s determination and physicality showed how the WSL has reached new levels in recent years.
In conversation with Brian Sorensen post-match, I asked him what he thought his team needed to do to go level with the opposition, he replied, ‘’It’s hard because we’d been running for the first hour, then we have to find the energy to put into the game.’’ He ultimately believed that his team ‘’did everything [they] could’’ but Arsenal was just too tough of an opponent to take a point away from the game.
Emily Fox is Jonas Eidevell’s recent addition to his strong team, but despite being new to the set-up, she has played a full 90 minutes in both fixtures so far under her new manager. Eidevell was asked about how he felt Fox was progressing at Arsenal: ‘’I’m really pleased with her onboarding process and that’s credit to a lot of people from operations to players to squad to staff that have helped her integrate.’’
He also praised how well his new signing has settled into the WSL: ‘’I don’t think she looks like a player that played her first WSL game.’’ This just shows how much impact his new signing is having on the pitch significantly as she’s now played two full games for Eidevell.
Fox herself expressed how much she loved being in North London: ‘’I’ve been amazed with how seamless it’s being here. The girls and the staff and all of the fans have been so welcoming. It feels like I’ve been here for a while.’’ She even recognised how the fans have already developed a chant for her, ‘’It’s been really special having a chant, we don’t have that in the US.’’
She also explained how she attended The Emirates to watch the Arsenal girls take the points against Chelsea but now she ‘’can’t wait’’ to be one of the players on the pitch in front of a 50,000+ crowd: ‘’When I was at the Chelsea game it was surreal being at The Emirates.’’
Arsenal’s next fixture is in the Continental Cup when they take on Reading. Jonas Eidevell has spoken that there is possibility of this weekends fixture being the last without centre back and Lionesses captain Leah Williamson. Everton are also on the road for the Continental Cup as they take on fellow WSL side Leicester City.
LINEUPS:
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Zinsberger, Fox, Illestedt, Wubben-Moy, McCabe (Catley 83’), Pelova, Walti, Mead (Lacasse 90+6’), Miedema (Maanum 71’), Foord, Russo (Blackstenius 83’)
Subs: Beattie, D’Angelo, Codina, Cooney-Cross, Williams
Scorers: Foord (9’), Mead (45+3’)
EVERTON (3-4-3): Brosnan, Stenevik, Finnigan, Holmgaard, Payne (Madsen 61’), Wheeler, Galli (Duggan 76’), Bissel(Campbell 61’), Bennison, Snoeijs (Piemonte 76’), Olesen(Hope 60’)
Subs: Hart, Wilding
Scorers: Snoeijs (24’)
Referee: Melissa Burgin
Attendance: 3,713
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