Our resident ladies expert brings you a round-up of everything Arsenal LFC-connected from the past week, including some exclusive news as always.

International news

Cyprus Cup:

England won the tournament beating Canada 1-0 in the final with a goal from Arsenal’s Lianne Sanderson.

Siobhan Chamberlain played her first game of the tournament in the final and made some crucial saves as she played the full 90.

Alex Scott also played 90 minutes in the final while Jordan Nobbs captained the side which is a remarkable achievement at her young age (22).

Lianne Sanderson played the full game and scored the winner but Casey Stoney was injured during the tournament and did not take part.

Scotland finished seventh beating the Netherlands 3-1 with a hat-trick from the former Arsenal player Kim Little. Emma Mitchell played 53 minutes in the game while Caroline Weir played 90.

Istria Cup:

Ireland finished ninth in the tournament beating FIFA WWC 2015 team Costa Rica by 2-1. Goalkeeper Emma Byrne played 48 minutes in the game after being subbed off with an injury.

Arsenal LFC 4 v Yeovil Town LFC 2 (played behind closed doors)

For this friendly played behind closed doors, the Arsenal squad was very depleted due to the return of injured players from international duty.

A lot of players were involved in four games in eight days with the last game being played on Wednesday and then having to travel back from Croatia and Cyprus on Thursday.

The starting 11 was Chamberlain, Scott, Rose, Mitchell, Bailey, Losada, Nobbs, Humphrey, Carter, Sanderson, Natalia and the sub not used was Byrne.

I do not know what to make of the 3-1-2-4 system but I have never seem such a strange one for a long time.

I do recall another pre-season friendly against Oxford last year with the 3-1-3-3 being used on the day.

Again this was due to the lack of players, particularly defenders available.

Arsenal started the game brightly and scored with their first attack as Humphrey crossed from the right to Carter who finished from close range (1′).

Arsenal were quick out the blocks and Yeovil did not have time to settle and organise before the second  goal came courtesy of Sanderson (6′).

At this point, it looked like it would be a very easy win for the patched-up Arsenal side but Yeovil started to get into their rhythm and cause trouble.

Arsenal’s third came on the stroke of the half hour with Natalia, who was playing as a left winger in the game, scoring with a trademark clinical finish from inside the six yard box (29′). It is a feature of her game that we are likely to see again this season.

Credit must go to Yeovil as they found a way back to game with Bleazard overlapping on the right wing and sending a pinpoint cross to Heatherson who finished from close range to make it 3-1 (31′).

Dan Carter grabbed her brace a few minutes later from a superb penetrating run which started 35 yards out on the left wing. She then beat four defenders for pace and finished with a well place inside-of-the-foot shot (36′).

Arsenal led 4-1 at halftime

Yeovil made a lot of substitutions during the break while Arsenal made none at all. Maybe Emma Byrne could have been given an outfield kit?

Had Becky Spencer been on the bench as has happened in the past, she could have got a run in the side late in the game.

In the second half, Arsenal changed the system to a very attacking 4-2-4 system that died towards the end of hour mark and it was funny to see such a retro style applied to a game in 2015.

Considering Losada and Nobbs are more atacking minded than defensive, it was more like a 4-0-6 at times.

The game carried on with no team managing to find the net before Arsenal ended up with ten players when Bailey picked up an injury and could not carry on.

With only 10 players for 15 minutes, Arsenal conceded a goal with one minute to go.

A good pass and move from the left ended up with a low left-footed shot from Hill from 15 yards to close the game at 4-2 (89′).

Overall, it was a good tuning match for the Arsenal.

The game was played in freezing condition with about 50 people watching.

Next up is the FA Women’s Cup Round Fve with the road to Wembley starting next Sunday at the Den against Millwall. Kic-off 2pm.

Development Team

Unfortunately a very young development team which was hampered by first team call up and injuries was defeated in the FA WSL Development League Cup semi-finals by three goals to nil at Sunderland.

Four u17 players were drafted into the development squad as the team was short of players.