Russo and Mead hit doubles: report
The England internationals Alessia Russo and Beth Mead claimed doubles as Arsenal continued their quest for Champions League qualification with a 5-0 demolition of bottom-of-the-table Bristol City.
Mead fired the Gunners into a seventh-minute lead after Caitlin Foord’s attempt had come back off the post, and Victoria Pelova rattled the crossbar five minutes later as Arsenal dominated from the off at the Mangata Pay UK Stadium. Mead made it 2-0 13 minutes before the break, following up to score after her initial shot had been blocked, and the third arrived in fortuitous circumstances two minutes later when Steph Catley’s cross looped up off the defender Ella Powell and went over the goalkeeper Fran Bentley.
Russo smashed home a fourth on the hour after a powerful run into the box and then doubled her tally 16 minutes from time with an equally emphatic finish. PA Media
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Kim Little spoke to Sky: “We took control quite early on and we dominated the ball. Overall our quality was really good. We could have scored more goals but we can be pleased with the performance.
“This year we’ve had the strongest depth we’ve had in the squad. When we bring on the substitutes they come on and make sure we dominate the same at the end of the game. That says a lot about the team.”
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Here’s the table. Arsenal’s third place is secure and they are around to pick up the pieces if the top two slip. City look doomed.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City Women | 18 | 37 | 46 |
| 2 | Chelsea Women | 17 | 36 | 43 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 18 | 24 | 40 |
| 4 | Man Utd Women | 18 | 16 | 31 |
| 5 | Liverpool FC Women | 18 | 1 | 29 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 17 | -6 | 25 |
| 7 | Aston Villa Women | 18 | -13 | 20 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 18 | -15 | 18 |
| 9 | Leicester Women | 18 | -11 | 17 |
| 10 | Everton Women | 18 | -18 | 15 |
| 11 | West Ham Women | 18 | -18 | 13 |
| 12 | Bristol City Women | 18 | -33 | 6 |
Full-time: Arsenal 5-0 Bristol City
Big applause from Jonas in the stand. His team did their job, taking down City with ease, and relegation seems a certainty for them. That was an ordeal, and goals for Mead and Russo showed Arsenal are full of firepower. They probably want the season to go on for longer.
90+4 min: Big smiles on Jonas’ face in his exile in the stands.
90+1 min: Six minutes added on, and that seems cruel on City.
90 min: Reid plays a beauty of a pass to Blackstenius but the finish is straight at Bentley.
88 min: Arsenal want more but Lacasse and Blackstenius are off each other’s wavelength. Young Reid has been putting herself about, couple of chopping challenges flying in.
87 min: Off goes Williamson to be replaced by Katie Reid, 17, and making her debut with a huge smile on her face.
86 min: Big cheers as Beth Mead is announced as player of the match. “Meado, Meado.”
85 min: City look punch drunk, the ball zipping all over their box. Wienrother lays up Pelova to shoot but that’s scraped wide.
83 min: Kelova fancies a mazy run through the City defence but Aspin – again – averted the danger.
81 min: Huge cheers as Lauren Wienrother comes on, for Fox. She’s back after nearly a year out.
79 min: Russo nearly. She takes the ball down, spins but can’t keep it down.
77 min: The Arsenal fans really getting into this now. Russo drills a shot after Pelova’s run is stopped. It’s blocked. To be fair to City they have done a great deal of decent blocking. They have found no way to stop the shots coming in, however. Aspin it was with two blocks there.
Goal! Arsenal 5-0 Bristol City (Russo, 74)
It’s her second of the night, set up by McCabe before Russo smashes the ball beyond Bentley, who is rooted in the wrong spot.
71 min: City made some subs by the way: Rachel Furness, Jasmine Bull and Naomi Layzell on with Emily Syme, Ella Powell and Sarah Stratigakis off. The latter made her debut in a very tough game.
69 min: A City corner causes quite a scramble from the Arsenal defenders.
68 min: Fox, looking for a first Gunners goal, takes the ball down from Blackstenius and forces a fine save from Bentley, who’s had the busiest of nights.
65 min: Arsenal want a penalty but it looked more like it was a Bristol shoulder that deflected that ball away.
63 min: That’s the end of the night for Mead and Foord, on come McCabe and Lacasse.
62 min: Mead for the hat-trick? This time, it’s right at Bentley.
Goal! Arsenal 4-0 Bristol City (Russo, 60)
It was coming, wasn’t it? Lovely pass from Little, Russo beats a couple of defenders, and then lashes at goal. Bentley couldn’t get a strong enough hand to it.
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57 min: City go close. The ball to Syme has her clean through, the away fans get excited but what a rescuing tackle to get it clear. Steph Catley slid across to clear the danger.
56 min: Wubben-Moy steps forward, plays in Mead, who spins and shoots, this time over the bar.
55 min: From the corner, Pelova goes close, Bentley palms away like the ball is a hot potato, and Arsenal continue to look for their fourth goal.
54 min: Huge cheers as Wubben-Moy steps across to cut off a City attack. The visitors just can’t get out, can they?
52 min: Russo turns and spins, but her shot can’t beat Bentley.
50 min: Mead finds herself in an inside-right position but cuts inwards to cross. Nobody’s there to receive it. For once, there wasn’t a battalion of Gunners coming down the left.
48 min: Arsenal continue to press their opponents, and when City go long, Wubben-Moy gobbles up the ball.
46 min: Back underway at Meadow Park. Vivianne Miedema is pictured in the stands. The Gunners await her full return to action.
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Half-time: Arsenal 3-0 Bristol City
The Gunners have been utterly dominant, and might have had many more goals. Caitlin Foord has created havoc down the left, to which City have answer. That’s 15 goal attempts to one.
45 min: Two minutes are added on.
44 min: The corner, such as it is, is cleared but City continue to push on. Morgan almost seizes on a back pass. Arsenal getting sloppy? The coaches’ airpods must be burning.
43 min: City have a spell of three minutes or so when they aren’t defending deep. And even force a corner, too.
40 min: Arsenal have a corner, and Catley zings it in, bur Leah Williamson can’t get to it this time.
38 min: Jonas, up in the stands, Airpods on, looks relaxed. Maybe he’s turned off his coaches and is listening to some Vaughan Williams or something.
37 min: Things are looking up. City have had a shot, and this time Morgan lashes from distance, again with frustration, but well wide.
36 min: Seems fair to say that City will not be getting much to help them in their relegation fight. This will make it 13 WSL games without a win.
Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Bristol City (Powell, own-goal, 35)
“Hat-trick for Meado” implore the home fans. Instead, a freak goal results, as Catley smashes the ball off Powell, and it spins up and over keeper Bentley and in.
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Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Bristol City (Meado, 32)
Pelova’s ball out wide, and it comes from the byline and Mead, without prejudice, clatters home. That was a finish taken with not a little relief.
31 min: That’s 11 shots so far from Arsenal. For City, well, none so far.
30 min: Charles Antaki gets in touch: “Bit of a lull at the moment, but one up and dominating game, with every prospect of more goals to come, is the kind of balm that any supporter of Arsenal FC will be looking for. Liveliness, directness and a likely comfortable win. Yes, please.”
28 min: Blackstenius looks to be fouled but nothing doing there. It’s all Arsenal, all the time.
26 min: Will Arsenal be annoyed they haven’t scored more? That might be occurring to them now.
24 min: Arsenal pour it on again, with Foord set up Little to skid one narrowly over.
23 min: Little in the way of attacking from Bristol City. Arsenal seem to have the angles covered every time.
21 min: How have Arsenal not scored? Russo wallops a low one, and then Blackstenius just failed to get a toe on a shot whizzing across goal.
20 min: “Stena Blackstenius, we want you to stay,” sing the Gunners faithful.
19 min: To be fair to City, they have defended well enough, but their attacking instincts are being curbed by being pinned back. Bentley makes a fine save, the ball played to Blackstenius after some red-hot pressing from Foord, the shot rattling in.
18 min: Anna gets in touch: “Is is too soon to mention a team of the season? From Arsenal only Wubben-Moy, Russo and McCabe are shoe-ins I think. Williamson, Little and Mead haven’t played quite enough. Pelova in with a shout too.”
17 min: Foord and Catley down the left are creating all sorts of damage for City.
16 min: Beth Mead takes a rapping tackle from Napier. but will be fine to play on.
13 min: Jonas Eidevall is using airpods for his communication needs as he completed his ban to the stands.
12 min: Close for Arsenal, and twice Little playing Catley on the overlap. From the corner, taken short, Pelova gets time and space for a long-range shot and smashes off the post.
11 min: The fans sound in full voice. Sunday evening has allowed time for refreshment, perhaps some solace sough for those watching the men’s team.
10 min: Bentley, the City keeper, has to come out and claim the ball as Little is sent away by a neat Wubben-Moy pass. At the other end, the latter, the England player, shepherds the ball out expertly. She’s one of the form players in the game at the moment.
8 min: That was the start Arsenal were looking for, and exactly what City were trying to prevent. Arsenal, of course, set off after goal.
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Bristol City (Mead, 7)
Foord sets off on another incursion, right foot shot and out it comes to Beth Mead to slot home.
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6 min: Williamson is dictating play from deep as Arsenal patiently wait for their chance. Foord has the ball cleared as she makes an incursion.
4 min: City will play attacking football. What have they got to lose at this point? Russo, partnering Blackstenius, drops back to tackle.
2 min: Short corner taken and only just cleared by City’s defenders. Arsenal’s backline immediately assumes possession, with Catley making a bust down the wing. City are sat deep in a back five.
Away we go at Boreham Wood
1 min: Both teams take the knee and we are underway at a chilly Meadow Park. It gets windy up in Herts. Arsenal immediately go on the attack.
So, here we go at Meadow Park. North London Forever plays, just as it did at the Emirates earlier today, though failed to inspire the men’s team.
Jonas Eidevall is banished to the stands after the Conti Cup flare-up, so he is using tech to get his team playing how he likes. He spoke to Sky: “Communication is different because I need to keep connected to the bench with radio and other things, and someone else also has to communicate directly to the players. The decision making should be the same so it should not have too much of an affect.
“When I was in Sweden as a preference I did many games in the stands to get a different perspective, so I know how is it and for good and bad how that changes decisions. I am very confident that we can adapt to that.”
For Arsenal: Manuela Zinsberger, Katie McCabe and Cloe Lacasse are benched while Frida Maanum is absent after her collapse in the Conti final. Thankfully, the news is positive on Maanum, who will be back soon. Sabrina D’Angelo, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Alessia Russo come in.
For City: Abi Harrison, Shania Hayles drop out, Sille Struck benched. Jamie-Lee Napier is back from a ban, a first start for Sarah Stratigakis. Lisa Evans also comes in.
The teams again
Arsenal Women: D’Angelo, Fox, Wubben-Moy, Williamson, Catley, Little, Pelova, Mead, Blackstenius, Foord, Russo. Subs: Zinsberger, McCabe, Lacasse, Wienroither, Goldie, Lia, Reid.
Bristol City Women: Francesca Bentley, Powell, Aspin, Connolly, Morgan, Napier, Stratigakis, Rodgers, Syme, Evans, Thestrup. Subs: Struck, Layzell, Furness, Clark, Jasmine Bull, Jones, Ward, Yanez, Slocombe.
The table. To say Bristol City are running out of games is putting it mildly.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City Women | 18 | 37 | 46 |
| 2 | Chelsea Women | 17 | 36 | 43 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 17 | 19 | 37 |
| 4 | Man Utd Women | 18 | 16 | 31 |
| 5 | Liverpool FC Women | 18 | 1 | 29 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 17 | -6 | 25 |
| 7 | Aston Villa Women | 18 | -13 | 20 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 18 | -15 | 18 |
| 9 | Leicester Women | 18 | -11 | 17 |
| 10 | Everton Women | 18 | -18 | 15 |
| 11 | West Ham Women | 18 | -18 | 13 |
| 12 | Bristol City Women | 17 | -28 | 6 |
It’s been a huge day in women’s domestic football.
The teams
🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 14, 2024
🇨🇦@SabsDAngelo between the posts
🇦🇺 @stephcatley and @CaitlinFoord start
🏴 Captain Little in the middle
COME ON YOU GUNNERS 👊 pic.twitter.com/VeK4GxYZpL
Your City XI for this evening's trip to Arsenal! 📋 pic.twitter.com/dQWcozaEEi
— Bristol City Women (@bristolcitywfc) April 14, 2024
Preamble
After Conti Cup success, back to domestic matters for Jonas Eidevall, and the chance to strengthen the hold on third place and return to the Champions League. And, should the leading pair slip up, be there to collect pick up the pieces. Their opponents, Bristol City are fighting relegation, so will not be taking this at all lightly.
Let’s see how Eidevall, the Gunners manager, reacts to the poetry of Robert Frost, as espoused by Emma Hayes, his bête noire.
Kick-off is at 6.45 pm UK time.
