Arsenal won the North London Derby 4-0 thanks to a Jordan Nobbs clever lob and a Lisa Evans hat-trick and will now play Manchester City who won a tough game at Championship side Leicester 2-1.

BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Lisa Evans of Arsenal carries the match ball after scoring a hat trick during the SSE Women's FA Cup Quarter Final between Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Meadow Park on September 26, 2020 in Borehamwood, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Lisa Evans of Arsenal carries the match ball after scoring a hat trick during the SSE Women’s FA Cup Quarter Final between Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Meadow Park on September 26, 2020 in Borehamwood, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

The 2019/20 FA Women’s Cup tournament was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is only being wrapped up this season.

There was a huge upset at Goodison Park as Everton came back from behind and defeated the current League Champions Chelsea who were unbeaten the whole of the 2019/20 season.

Their opponents will be Birmingham City who beat Brighton away in the penalty shootout to set up the tie to be played at Solihull Moors with a kick-off at 7.15pm live on BBC4 on Wednesday.

Man City v Arsenal will be played on Thursday at the Academy Stadium with a 7.15pm ko live on BBC2 and Arsenal are in with a good chance of getting through to another Wembley final as City’s performances so far this have been quite flat.

Coming back to the 4-0 win against Spurs, Arsenal had to wait a long time to break the deadlock and that was mainly due to Spurs defensive quality. They are an improving side and added quality this summer.

Joe Montemurro decided to use an asymetrical 4-3-3 system, with Zinsberger in goal, Maritz at right-back, Williamson back from her England injury scare,  Schnaderbeck at centre-back and McCabe at left-back roaming down the wing.

In midfield, two holding midfielders with Kim Little, who also acted as a deep playmaker, alongside Danielle van de Donk whose creativity is clearly stifled in a deeper role. Nobbs was at 10 and, up front, Evans was on the right, Foord played as a left centre-forward and Miedema was in the hybrid number 9/10 role, floating around the Spurs defence.

Full credit should be given to Spurs for their resolute defending and the Gunners had to work hard to find pockets of space inside and around their defence.

Arsenal’s pressure during the game paid of late when Neville gave away the ball to Nobbs who finished with an exquisite lob.

Nobb’s vision and the technical execution was fantastic as many players would have over-hit the shot or put it wide.

https://twitter.com/VitalityWFACup/status/1309913431152177153

Neville was at it again for the second Arsenal goal, giving the ball away to Miedema who played a superb reverse pass to Evans:

https://twitter.com/VitalityWFACup/status/1309914063074459649

The Spurs coaching staff subsequently subbed Neville but her errors had already cost Spurs the game.

Until then, their game plan to frustrate and contain the Gunners had been working perfectly and, no doubt, Alex Morgan would have come in the later stages as the BBC were clearly crying for it, spending so much time focusing on her despite her only being on the bench.

In the end, the scoreline allowed Joe Montemurro to give Lotte Wubben-Moy her second debut for the club after leaving us following the 2017 Spring Series to study at UNC in the USA.

It also allowed him to give a debut to 17 year old Ruby Mace who has been training with the first team for a while now. She is an Academy player with a great future if she carries on working hard.

The Arsenal manager has now given game time to all his outfield players over the four games played so far and after the match he spoke about managing loads and injuries.

It is clear that injuries always threaten to derail the season and the next couple of weeks will be busy.

  • Thu 1 Oct, City A, FA Cup semi final
  • Sun 4 Oct, Bristol H, FA WSL Matchweek 3
  • Wed 7 Oct, Chelsea A, FA WSL Conti Cup group stage
  • Sun 11 Oct, Brighton A, FA WSL Matchweek 4
  • Sun 18 Oct, Spurs H, FA WSL Matchweek 5

It is important to note that Montemurro uses his five substitutions in every game to rotate and keep the players fresh.

Arsenal are still in for four trophies this season and, hopefully, a couple of them will find their way to Borehamwood.