We got back to winning ways on a crisp Friday night at Emirates Stadium with a formidable performance against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Goals from Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum, Lina Hurtig and Alessia Russo gave us a glorious three points in the Women’s Super League.
WHAT HAPPENED
Over 20,000 supporters were in attendance for Friday night football at Emirates Stadium. Renee Slegers made two changes to the side that lined up against Manchester United last weekend, with Manu Zinsberger and Beth Mead stepping in.
Mead started brightly, getting for our first shot on target in the third minute with a straightforward header at Sophie Baggaley. Good switches of play gave us some early joy on the left flank through Katie McCabe and Caitlin Foord, and Brighton’s risk-taking at the back offered up some opportunities to poach the ball high.
Our breakthrough came in the 13th minute through a vintage piece of skill from Beth Mead. Our number 9 received the ball on the right from Frida Maanum, cut inside and curled it off the post to make it 1-0 to the Arsenal.
Then the onslaught began. Leah Williamson spotted a clever run from Emily Fox down the right flank before our American full-back played in Kim Little. One floated cross from the skipper later and some Caitlin Foord had scored her seventh goal of the season with a simple tap-in at the far post.
In a blink of an eye, we were three goals ahead. Unmarked at the edge of the area, our Norwegian midfielder took a steadying touch and guided the ball beautifully into the top right-hand corner.
Foord was then cruelly denied by the inside of the post after spotting the Brighton goalkeeper off her line and our search for a fourth goal continued relentlessly.
Maanum tried again from distance with a powerful shot that tested Baggaley and we continued to pepper the Brighton backline with crosses.
On the stroke of half-time, Mead took a shot at her second with a free-kick just outside the box but Baggaley managed to scramble the ball away.
Determined to keep the game alive, the Seagulls evened up the second-half. Brighton’s Kiko Seike looked lively in the second half, hitting the crossbar and forcing a good save from Manu Zinsberger from identical positions at the edge of the box.
A comfortable scoreline allowed Slegers to make some early substitutions, bringing on Laia Codina, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Stina Blackstenius before the hour mark.
After a series of promising corner deliveries, Lina Hurtig finally proved to be the difference maker. Our super Swede sent a bullet header into the net for her first goal in a year, heralding an emotional celebration with the team.
We had one more goal in us before the referee blew the final whistle, after Blackstenius was brought down in the box. Russo stepped up the spot and rifled home to make it 5-0.
