Arsenal women secured Champions League football for next season with a ruthless 3-0 win at Aston Villa, giving Renee Slegers’ side the response they needed after a difficult week.
Arsenal secured Champions League football for next season with a commanding 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park, responding emphatically to a difficult week that had seen them exit Europe and lose the WSL title race.
After the disappointment of their semi-final defeat to Lyon on Saturday, followed by a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Wednesday that handed Manchester City the league title for the first time in a decade, Arsenal arrived knowing sealing the points against Villa would be enough to guarantee third place.
They did rather more than that, producing a performance that kept alive their hopes of catching Chelsea in second, with a game in hand still to come against Everton at the Emirates in midweek.
Renee Slegers made three changes to the side that faced Villa, with Anneke Borbe replacing Daphne van Domselaar in goal.
Emily Fox came into the back line alongside Lotte Wubben-Moy, Laia Codina and Taylor Hinds, while Katie McCabe and Leah Williamson dropped out of the squad entirely.
Arsenal started with the sharpness that had been missing at Brighton and needed only four minutes to take control.
A cross into the area was not dealt with by ex-Gunner Sabrina D’Angelo in the Villa goal, leaving Alessia Russo waiting for a free header. Before she could finish it herself, a Villa defender, stretching to clear, sliced the ball into her own net, although it was already heading towards goal.
From there, Arsenal dominated. Only poor finishing stopped the lead becoming two or three before 10 minutes had been played, with Villa struggling to cope with the Gunners’ intensity and movement.
The second finally arrived after almost 35 minutes, and this time it came from Arsenal’s own quality.
Russo produced a superb outside-of-the-boot pass to release Frida Leanhardson Maanum, who finished calmly to double the advantage.
On the stroke of half-time, only a fine save from D’Angelo denied Maanum a second and Arsenal a third from a free-kick delivered from the left by Smilla Holmberg, whose set-piece delivery continues to impress.
At half-time, Champions League qualification was 45 minutes away. Arsenal, though, made sure there would be no anxious wait.
Six minutes after the restart, Russo made it 3-0 after Maanum slid her in. With a swivel of the hips, she sat the goalkeeper down, went round her and finished into the net. She was well worth her Player of the Match award.
Villa offered just one shot in response to Arsenal’s 28, with 7,944 watching on as the gap between the sides became impossible to ignore.
Possession had been relatively even, but that told little of the story. Arsenal were far more incisive in the areas that mattered, moving the ball with purpose and turning their territory into clear chances, while Villa struggled to progress up the pitch despite seeing enough of the ball. Villa managed just five touches in the Arsenal box. The Gunners managed 50 in theirs.
The result was exactly what was required after a bruising few days. The Champions League exit still hurts, and the title has gone to City, but Slegers’ side have at least ensured they will be back among Europe’s elite next season.
Given the standards expected of this squad, that was the minimum. The manner of it, though, was far more encouraging, particularly as injuries continue to be an issue.
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