Arsenal took advantage of the Manchester derby 1-1 draw to overtake United and also take a five points lead over City with their 4-1 at Aston Villa.
Chelsea are still top of the league, three points clear having played an extra game. They beat Reading 3-2 on a snowy and cold evening.
The full table looks like this:
https://twitter.com/BarclaysWSL/status/1602053108586217472
The top four teams will fight for the three Champions League places, while at the bottom of the table Leicester are in a tough situation seven points adrift. The early managerial change they made has not paid off so far.
Jonas Eidevall made a few changes from the team that played Juventus with Maritz and Rafaelle coming in in defence for Wienroither and Williamson, while Foord and McCabe swapped wings in the front three. The XI was Zinsberger; Maritz, Wubben-Moy, Rafaelle, Catley; Wälti, Maanum, Miedema; Foord, Blackstenius, McCabe.
Aston Villa scored very early from an Arsenal missed interception in midfield with a splendid finish from Kirsty Hanson.
https://twitter.com/AVWFCOfficial/status/1601977728856645633
The Gunners did not panic as Jonas Eidevall mentioned and equalised via a Rachel Corsie own goal.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsWSL/status/1602051813011767299
Vivianne Miedema gave the Arsenal the lead before the half-time break.
https://twitter.com/BarclaysWSL/status/1601983310275616768
Katie McCabe and Jordan Nobbs secured the win in the second half.
https://twitter.com/BarclaysWSL/status/1601995875537981440
Calm as you like from Jordan Nobbs to make it FOUR for Arsenal against Aston Villa 4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/B3Zpwy0qYX
— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) December 11, 2022
Jordan Nobbs goal was Arsenal’s 500 goals in the Barclays WSL
https://twitter.com/ArsenalWFC/status/1602017856895713281
That win meant Arsenal Women have won 140 games from 200 WSL games played. This is obviously the best winning rate among all the WSL teams.
It could have been even better had the club not gone through a long dry spell between 2014 and 2019.
Now, the attention turns to the Champions League with a home game to Lyon and an away game to Zürich.
According to UEFA: Arsenal will go through on Matchday 5 if they avoid defeat by Lyon by four goals or more, or if Juventus do not beat Zürich. Arsenal will be confirmed in first place if they avoid defeat.
It is interesting to note that Lyon lost the big game on Sunday in the D1 Arkema with a late goal conceded to PSG’ Kadidiatou Diani. That 1-0 defeat puts PSG at the top of the League at the winter break.
It also confirms Lyon’s current finishing problems. This is their worse attacking spell in a dozen years in the League and their manager Sonia Bompastor confirmed in her post-match press conference that finishing is in their main problem as they are not clinical enough.
A draw would be enough to win the group and considering both team’s current form, it is definitely a possibility. The away game showed Arsenal’s preparation was spot-on and the Gunners were extremely clinical on the day to win the game by a huge margin. Should the Gunners perform again at the highest level, there is no doubt that they will get the point they need to win the group.
And with the centre-back preferred pair (Williamson/Rafaelle) back to full fitness and both given game time before the Lyon game, the team should be even stronger than in recent games. Should Arsenal qualify after the Lyon game, the Zürich game would be then the perfect occasion to rotate the squad and give a game to all the fringe and Academy players who need game time, while giving a rest to the overworked players who have played non-stop in the last few weeks.