Arsenal Women did the job yesterday against Bristol with a 6-1 away win, but unfortunately Manchester City also beat Everton 3-0 to leave the Gunners short of Champions League qualification by a point.
Joe Montemurro had a small squad to chose from, as he ended up with a 15-player squad. That included two development team players, Jess N’Gunga and Shannon Cooke, who both got game time.
He selected the following starting 11: Anna Moorhouse; Lisa Evans, Leah Williamson, Louise Quinn, Emma Mitchell; Dominique Janssen, Jordan Nobbs, Kim Little; Danielle Van De Donk, Danielle Carter, Bethany Mead
Katie McCabe came on early for Danielle Carter who was injured, whilst Jess N’Gunga and Shannon Cooke came on for the last 15 minutes for Danielle Van De Donk and Emma Mitchell.
FULL-TIME@ArsenalWFC end the season with a resounding win at the Stoke Gifford Stadium over @bristolcitywfc to claim third in the table.#FAWSL pic.twitter.com/g7UuVJ72Cx
— The FA WSL (@FAWSL) May 20, 2018
Considering how far the team was from Champions League football when Pedro Losa left the club, Joe Montemurro has done a great job. Coupled with a weaker than usual Manchester City side, Arsenal could have returned to the Champions League for the first time since the 2013/14 season.
The upcoming transfer window will be crucial, and we should expect numerous signings to bolster the squad numbers in quantity and quality, to try to win the league next season.
On the day of the game, Bethany Mead was presented with the official Arsenal Women’s Supporter Club player of the year trophy as well:
https://twitter.com/ArsenalWomenSC/status/998197529635409921
Development side
The reserves won 2-1 away at Milwall Lionesses to stay at the top of the League thanks to goals from Miri Taylor and Gabriella Ravenscoft late in the game. They were 1-0 down at half time, but scored twice in the last 15 minutes to win it, and stay ahead of Chelsea, who beat Reading 2-0 away yesterday.
Going into the final game, Arsenal are therefore one point ahead of Blues, who were supposed to play London Bees, but as the game is not going ahead, you would expect Chelsea to pick the three points. It means Arsenal will have to to win away to Bristol next weekend to win the title.