Has the dominance worn thin or was it only a matter of time?
It was a tough test for our women on Sunday afternoon in a game which looked like it would go to plan on paper, but it seemed as though our women misjudged the script.
Despite a good start from our ladies with the constant pressure and dominance, it looked like it would be one of those comfortable games but that wasn’t to be the case when they found themselves down 1-0 to Bristol within five minutes, after Harrison found the back of the net with a long range shot. up util that point we were fairly untroubled but Zinsberger at full stretch was unsurprisingly unable to keep the ball out and again poor defending cost Arsenal early on.
Arsenal continued where they left off before the goal went in though and had a good response to going 1-0 down, but despite the pressure they barely moved out of their own half, passing the ball back and forth in midfield as Bristol defended well. It was an uphill battle for Arsenal despite their good strong start, their lack of finishing and quality on the ball just was not there in the first half but the fact that they hadn’t failed to score at home since a loss in September 2016 to Manchester City, and with the quality they had, it was only a matter of time that they would score.
And they got their equaliser two minutes before half time after a momentary lapse in the heart of Bristol’s midfield. The ball finally ended up in the back of the net and it was three in three in all competitions for who else, that girl again Jordan Nobbs for her first in the WSL this season.
Our women came out with increased intensity in the second half and they got their rewards with their early pressure as Foord tapped it in to the back of the net for 2-1 and Bristol really had their keeper to thank for keeping it at 2-1 as she pulled off some key saves but it wasn’t enough to keep Arsenal out for the third time after Miedema got her name on the scoresheet.
And so, a rather unconvincing performance yet again from our ladies but this time they came away with all three points. But they will have to do a whole lot better from the start of games if they are to dominate, compete and win convincingly within 90 minutes.
Gooners?
Shenel Osman
All kinds of wins are worth 3 points. I am not sure whether it papers over our cracks as I haven’t been able to watch WSL games. But yeah, as our women’s team is a dominant force, they should be able to identify weaknesses and work on them. The recent FA cup defeat hurts very much. I hope we win the league this season.