Defeat at the Emirates in WSL

Bethany England marked her 200th career Women’s Super League appearance with a goal, but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback as we suffered a 5-2 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday.

Our captain stepped off the bench and – along with our other substitutes – made an impact, but the damage had already been done as a first-half hat-trick from Alessia Russo put the Gunners firmly in the driving seat in front of over 46,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium.

All three of Russo’s goals could have been avoided from our perspective, while a Cathinka Tandberg effort – later ruled as a Frida Maanum own goal – was our only reply before the break.

Arsenal sub Caitlin Foord made it 4-1 just beyond the hour mark and although we rallied after Martin Ho’s changes, England scoring from the right angle with goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar unable to keep the ball out, a cheap turnover in possession allowed Stina Blackstenius to run through and find the net deep into added time, making for an unflattering final scoreline.

We made two changes from last weekend’s defeat at Manchester City with Japan’s Asian Cup-winning duo Maika Hamano and Toko Koga coming back in, but the latter found herself immediately under pressure along with the rest of our back line as Russo rattled in a 22-minute treble. Her first after five minutes saw her find a pocket of space in our box to score a stooping header from Kate McCabe’s corner after her initial shot had been blocked behind by Molly Bartrip, and just two minutes later it was 2-0 as the forward latched onto Olivia Smith’s through ball and converted past the hesitant Lize Kop from the right angle. Koga was the retreating defender on the line but was off-balance and couldn’t prevent the ball from rolling agonisingly over the line.

Kop made a great save low to her right to prevent Russo from swiftly adding a third after we were caught off-guard in the wake of a throw-in, but we began to find our way forward a couple of times, Signe Gaupset’s dangerous delivery in from the left just in front of Tandberg before we pulled one back from a corner, Matilda Vinberg’s delivery flicked on by Amanda Nilden with Tandberg’s header going in via Maanum.

Disaster struck on 27 minutes, though. Bartrip rolled the ball back to Kop and the goalkeeper’s attempted forward pass went straight to Russo in front of her, the forward gleefully sliding home her hat-trick goal.

Arsenal added a fourth just beyond the hour mark when Foord took a touch at the back post to lose Hanna Wijk following a right-sided delivery from Smilla Holmberg before planting home, but the introductions of Eveliina Summanen and England gave us a boost, the latter’s header from Nilden’s cross forcing van Domselaar into a scrambling save down to her right. McCabe’s free-kick was tipped over by Kop and Foord saw an effort cleared from the goalmouth by Koga as Arsenal sought another, but on 77 minutes we scored again as Summanen’s ball forward was chested down by Vinberg and she set up England to score with a rising shot from the right angle, van Domselaar getting a touch but only pushing it up into the top corner as the evergreen striker reclaimed the mantle of all-time top scorer in WSL London derbies. It also meant we became only the second team behind Manchester City to score two WSL goals against Arsenal in one game this term.

Although we were resurgent, there was to be no way back and after Gaupset arrowed a shot over from distance for us, the Gunners had the final say in the fifth minute of added time when we lost possession on half-way and Blackstenius went through to slide low past Kop, consigning us to a second consecutive 5-2 defeat.

Match data

Goals: Arsenal – Russo 5, 7, 27, Foord 61, Blackstenius 90+5; Spurs – Maanum (OG) 20, England 77.

Yellow cards: Arsenal – Smith 38, Van Domselaar 90+1; Spurs – A Nilden 38.

Referee: Grace Lowe.

Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.

Weather: Clear sky, sunny intervals, gentle breeze, eight degrees.

Attendance: 46,123.