Arsenal WFC London derby match report
Jonas Eidevall and his Arsenal Women’s squad walked away bitterly disappointed after being defeated by across town rivals Tottenham Hotspur. It was a bit of a slow game and a very unlucky game for the Gunner Women, who had all the chances but just weren’t clinical enough to walk away with the win. Here’s a run down of what happened a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The first half started off very much in Arsenal’s favour with Eidevall’s women seeing a lot of the ball and creating plenty of chances, but Spurs had set up well defensively with the low block and luck just didn’t seem to be on our side. Caitlin Foord looked like she’d be the most likely to score in the first half after having a rocket of a shot just saved by the fingertips of the Spurs keeper and was somehow pushed onto the post and kept out of the goal. Foord later had another chance but skyrocketed the ball over the bar. Frida Maanum also had a great chance to go up just before half time but was again saved by the Spurs keeper.
There wasn’t that much action in the first half and although Arsenal looked to be the better side, Tottenham continued to defend well and their goalkeeper was on fire, saving some crucial shots that ultimately kept the scores level going into the second half.
Arsenal came out in the second half with the same type of high tempo football they played in the first half and were creating plenty of chances, but just couldn’t seem to score and were soon punished for not taking their chances. Starting from the Spurs keeper, they tried to play out from the back, looking like prime Barcelona, they passed the ball around the backline till they found space through the middle to run onto, Celin Ildhusoy made a fast run down the right wing, spotting the run of Martha Thomas who was running into the middle of the box, squared the ball into the middle and Thomas was there to pounce.
A really poor goal to concede for the Gunners but a really well worked team goal for Spurs. Zinsberger was left stuck to the spot like a statue and the ball rolled into the bottom left hand corner of the net to put Spurs 1-0 up. Amanda Ilestedt was caught out of position and punished for it, a very avoidable goal for Arsenal but we were caught napping and we paid heavily for it.
Arsenal continued to push for an equaliser but Spurs set up well defensively and continued to play a low block, somehow managing to stop every attack from leading into anything big, and after 11 long minutes of extra time the ref blew the whistle and our Arsenal women walked away defeated for the first time in a London derby.
WE also dropped 3 needed points and gave Chelsea the opportunity to go back 3 points ahead when they beat Bristol City yesterday.
What’s your thoughts on the game Gooners? What could we have done better?
Daisy Mae
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