Arsenal women crashed out of the FA Cup on Thursday night, losing 2-1 to Manchester City and after the game, Joe Montemurro said his team were not good with or without the ball.
![Joe Montemurro on losing to Manchester City and Kim Little's injury 1 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: Jordan Nobbs of Arsenal FC scores his team's first goal during the Vitality Women's FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Arsenal on October 01, 2020 in Manchester, 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 Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)](/static/uploads/2020/10/manchester-city-v-arsenal-vitality-womens-fa-cup-semi-final-1-scaled-e1601625864434.jpg)
After the game, Montemurro spoke to the press:
on his emotions at the final whistle…
Disappointment, frustration. We can’t allow these teams to get on top like they did in the first half and from then we just found it hard to get back into the game.
on whether we planned to sit back…
No, we just obviously felt that they were swinging the ball around with ease and we were dropping off deeper and we couldn’t get any higher. They were pinning us in areas where they could hurt us.
on whether we missed Lia’s presence in midfield from the start…
Yeah, maybe. It’s hard to say. Lia wasn’t right to start and we’ve got a lot of games still to play, so we have to make sure we’re bringing players in at the right time.
![Joe Montemurro on losing to Manchester City and Kim Little's injury 2 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: Kim Little of Arsenal FC is seen to by medical staff after sustaining an injury during the Vitality Women's FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Arsenal on October 01, 2020 in Manchester, 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 Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)](/static/uploads/2020/10/manchester-city-v-arsenal-vitality-womens-fa-cup-semi-final-2-scaled-e1601626129213.jpg)
on his frustration at conceding so soon after equalising…
We weren’t good with the ball or without the ball in the first half and we were probably lucky to get back into the game at 1-1 to be honest. We probably got what we deserved in the first half.
on whether we deserved another equaliser…
I’ll have to have a look back at the chances because we got into some areas where we could have got through on goal, but in the end they were the better team and deserved to win.
on Lisa Evans’ fitness…
We hope she’s okay. She picked up a very heavy knock against Tottenham which didn’t recover in time. She trained yesterday but it flared up again, so it just wasn’t worth risking her.
on Kim Little’s injury…
We don’t know. She felt some tightness in her hamstring and hopefully it’s nothing too dramatic and we’ll see her back on the park very, very soon.