In a stunning late turn of events, Arsenal claim their first league win of the season by overcoming Aston Villa with two injury-time goals.

After going behind from a Mayumi Pacheco header, Katie McCabe and Alessia Russo scored to get a crucial win and kickstart Arsenal’s season.

This is the second game in a row where the Gunners managed to score in injury time and it shows the team’s resilience and willingness to fight until the end of the game and the belief that they can score goals at any time.

However, there is still a big question mark on the team’s ability to beat a deep low block though.

Jonas Eidevall has the luxury of a huge squad at the moment and it is needed as injuries may happen throughout the season. He had the usual task of selecting three players who would not make the matchday squad.

He had Naomi Williams, the third goalkeeper and two forwards Gio Queiroz and Lina Hurtig to sit out in the stands.

All three players look physically fit and likely did not make the squad on sporting merit. The only player seen limping a little bit post-game was Lotte Wubben-Moy, it did not look serious, just a bang on her foot, hopefully.

The Arsenal manager again made a lot of changes from the previous league game at United. He made five changes including the goalkeeper and moved from a back three to a back four.

Against United the team was set up in 3-4-2-1, while this time it was a 4-4-2.

At some point mid-game, it looked to me that the team was going the same way as under Pedro Losa with regular changes in system and personnel that left players and fans extremely confused.

The passmap for the game shows Maanum played actually higher on the pitch than Russo in the 4-4-2 system with Russo dropping deep and being really good in holding the ball in the central area.

Arsenal Women Pass Network – Arsenal Women vs Aston Villa Women pic.twitter.com/NGzQtEvy1d

— Scott Willis (@scottjwillis) October 15, 2023

The team was set up as follows: Zinsberger; Maritz, Ilestedt, Wubben-Moy, Catley; McCabe, Wälti, Little, Foord; Russo, Maanum.

Interestingly, the naked eye made me think that McCabe, as an inside forward on the right is not something that works very well. Cannonstats actually showed that she had a really good game. I thought introducing Lacasse and Mead on the right wing offered more penetration attack towards Villa’s left-back Pacheco. Blackstenius introduction also added more density in the central area.

This is the benefit of having a bigger squad with better players now on the bench who can change the game. Pelova at number 8 brought her drive, attacking creativity and technical ability to create the first goal, from winning the ball with a great tackle to her wonderful blind assist. Lacasse brought her directness, shooting and crossing ability. Blackstenius was unlucky to hit the post and put a lot of pressure on Villa’s centre-backs.

Mead back from her injury injecting her pace, ability and intelligence to assist Russo on the winning goal.

We also saw how good Russo is as a signing; she is strong, can hold the ball with her back to the goal, can distribute and of course scores some wonderful goals as seen in the Champions League and against Villa.

As we can expect the same kind of game away to Bristol next Sunday evening, you have to wonder if there will be some adjustments in the line-up in order to make the team more efficient in the final ball and more clinical in front of the goal.

In terms of league position, Arsenal climb up to seventh place with four points in three games.

They trail three leaders by three points with Manchester City top, thanks to a better goal difference, Leicester carrying on their excellent form with a 1-1 draw away United and Chelsea in third place with also seven points.

The #BarclaysWSL table is heating up! 👀 pic.twitter.com/1X2vmcDxVh

— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) October 15, 2023

 

Arsenal salvage point with an injury time equaliser at United

The Gunners managed to salvage a point with a last-gap goal from new signing Cloe Lacasse to kick-start their season and get their first point on board.

Jonas Eidevall made a wholesale change with six new players coming in. This is probably the first time he changed so many players between two league games and the Liverpool home performance quite justified such a turnover.

He kept a back five defensive system but changed four of the five players with D’Angelo coming in goal for Zinsberger, Maritz at right-wing back for Lacasse, Ilestedt at right centre-back for Wubben-Moy, Codina at left centre-back and Catley moved to left-wing back and replaced McCabe.

In midfield, he selected the double pivot Wälti-Pelova and in attack, one lone striker in Blackstenius with two inside forwards Russo on the right and Little on the left.

Arsenal conceded two self-inflicted goals in a tight and physical game with Sabrina D’Angelo miss kicking a ball that gave an easy tap-in to Galton, while the second goal was a clear misunderstanding between Ilestedt and D’Angelo that allowed Malard to sneak between them and poke the ball in.

The lack of familiarity within the defensive unit and D’Angelo’s absence of game sharpness might explain these conceded goals.

It’s a real shame, as Arsenal scored two brilliant goals. First, Stina Blackstenius was sent through on the left channel by Steph Catley and used her pace to outrun everyone and beat Earps. Then, the exceptional injury-time equaliser by Lacasse from 20-odd yards out with her wrong foot was well worth the point.

The result was a deserved one on the road and crucial, especially considering what happened on Sunday with City and Chelsea drawing 1-1 under dubious circumstances; we will return to that game later.

Arsenal now sit in ninth place in the league table, trailing unexpected leaders Leicester City and Liverpool by five points. City, United, and Chelsea all have four points, so Arsenal did well to maintain a three-point gap to those teams. Had Arsenal been six points behind after just two games, the title hopes would likely have been dashed.

How the #BarclaysWSL table looks after Gameweek Two 📈 pic.twitter.com/GT8CsHDZXo

— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) October 8, 2023

The big controversy of the weekend was the City vs Chelsea game. But let’s return to matchday one. Arsenal lost at home to Liverpool with the referee being rather lenient on time-wasting and fouls, according to many Arsenal fans. The PGMOL must have advised her to be sharper and penalise time-wasting more stringently in her next game.

Alex Greenwood had already been booked when a foul was given to City in their defensive area. I timed 26 seconds between the moment the foul was awarded and the referee’s whistle for time-wasting, which led to a yellow card. While it may seem a long time, Greenwood’s actions were arguably a form of time-wasting, including a dummy free-kick. Although it was a harsh booking leading to a red card, if the FA and PGMOL aim to change players’ behaviour on time-wasting and dissent, the rules must be consistently applied.

This red card caused a lot of controversy… 😬 #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/szrTtUWXxi

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 9, 2023

For years, I have argued that referees are too lenient under Law 12 and don’t issue enough yellow and red cards. It would be hypocritical for me to complain now when a referee seems to be acting more decisively. Most games have a high threshold for bookings, allowing players to get away with infringements. Stricter officiating around dissent, time-wasting, and fouling is welcome to ensure cleaner football.