Against Aston Villa, Arsenal had the chance to build on two much-needed wins, but another difficult league afternoon left them with more questions than answers.
Arsenal went into Sunday’s game against Aston Villa looking to make it three wins in a row after beating Tottenham 2-1 last weekend and Benfica 3-0 in the Champions League in midweek.
The Gunners started brightly and looked to take the game to Brian Sorenson’s side but, despite dominating and allowing Villa practically nothing in the opening 25 minutes, the Gunners found themselves a goal down from the visitors’ first (and, as it would turn out, only) attempt.
The goal was Arsenal’s own fault.
Poor defending saw Misa retreat to her line when the ball was there for her come out and clear and, from that point, the goal seemed inevitable. There was little Steph Catley could do.
It was the fifth time in eight league games this season that Arsenal had conceded first.
Only once in that run have they managed to come from behind to win, against Spurs the previous weekend. They would have to do it again if they were to take all three points, but could they find a way past the kryptonite of a low block?
Arsenal had 12 shots in the first half, five on target, but generated only one big chance. The Gunners had 62% possession without really stretching Akane Okuma in the Villa goal, even though she was forced to make five fairly routine saves.
At half-time, Renée Slegers changed things, bringing on Lisa Baum and Emily Fox for Geraldine Reuteler and Taylor Hinds.
The second half brought more of the same, with Arsenal struggling against Villa’s low block, while some of their decisions regarding when and where to play passes were poor.
With 65 minutes gone, Catley was kicked by Oriane Jean-Francois before colliding with Olivia Smith, leaving her needing treatment for a head injury.
She appeared to shake it off, returning to immediately help start an Arsenal attack, but a few minutes later she sat down on the pitch with her leg causing trouble this time.
Catley was forced off and replaced by Elisa de Almeida, while Smith was replaced by Kim Little with 20 minutes remaining.
In the 75th minute, Okuma was finally called on to make a good save, tipping over a Little effort which looked set to loop over her.
With seven minutes left, Slegers made her final substitution, bringing on Stina Blackstenius for Kyra Cooney-Cross, and it paid dividends almost immediately.
After watching poor cross after poor cross pumped towards nobody by her teammates, Blackstenius finally delivered one with curl and pace, finding a leaping Alessia Russo, whose header went in off the post for her third league goal of the season and Arsenal’s 700th in the WSL.
Goal by Russo to make it 1-1 against Aston Villa…. #WSL #ArsenalWomen #Arsenal #AFC
— Simon (@hantsravens.bsky.social) 1 November 2026 at 14:00
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Could they find a winner? It didn’t seem likely.
But, for the first time in the game, there was some urgency. Arsenal battered the Villa defence, desperately searching for a winner as the five minutes of added time disappeared quickly.
The chances were there, the finishing was not.
A poor Russo header, a wayward effort from Georgia Stanway and a blocked shot from Ona Batlle, which the defender knew little about, all came and went.
The goal just wouldn’t come.
Arsenal finished with 27 shots, eight on target and an xG of 2.61.
Villa finished with the same xG they had when they scored with their only attempt of the game, 0.07.
A point here was not enough, and Arsenal remain closer to the bottom of the table than the top.
How long that is allowed to continue is anyone’s guess.
After the game, Slegers told reporters, “Very disappointing performance from us. I think even though we create good chances, clear good chances in the second half mostly and towards the end, the start from our side isn’t good enough and that’s a collective responsibility.
“The ball speed, the speed of the game, the energy on the pitch in the first half, we want to bring more. I think that doesn’t set the tone for us in the game and then we end up chasing it in the second half.”
Arsenal’s goalscorer, Russo, added, “I think we should have been more ruthless throughout the game that we could have won here today. We’ve been on a good run and we want to continue that. But yes, this league’s tough. Home and away, you’ve got to be at 100% and we were there in moments, but not for all of the game today.”
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