Arsenal’s narrow victory over relegation-threatened Leicester on Friday kept the Gunner’s European hopes alive, and the fuel behind the hard-fought win was owed to the devastating slew of injuries suffered within Jonas Eidevall’s ranks of late.
Arsenal’s injuries crisis was exacerbated this week after defender Laura Wienrother became the latest Gunner to suffer an ACL injury. The 24-year-old was forced off just 18 minutes into Arsenal’s crushing Champions League semi-final second-leg defeat to Wolfsburg on Monday and forced to join Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson in the increasingly disconcerting injury epidemic to grip women’s football. Kim Little and Caitlin Foord also comprise Arsenal’s swelling injury list.
Despite the bruising result and further exhausted ranks, Jonas Eidevall’s side continued to demonstrate an unyielding tenacity to defy their reality. Despite enduring an hour of frustration against the Foxes, in which Katie McCabe saw an early penalty saved by Janina Leitzig in the opening five minutes, a moment of magic from Frida Maanum clinched a critical 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Leicester to keep their European ambitions within reach.
And defensive stalwart Jen Beattie, celebrating her 150th appearance for Arsenal with a resolute performance, owed the unabating resilience to the camaraderie honed behind the scenes since the beginning of an injury-ridden season and emphasised the roles played by attacking taliswomen Miedema and Mead.
“Honestly [the mentality] has been massive all year, I can honestly say,” the 31-year-old told SkySports post match. “We’ve picked up niggles since the beginning and it’s been a general consensus all year how important the squad has been and the morale behind the scenes and the input the injured players still have.
“Viv [Miedema], Beth [Mead], they’ve all been instrumental and giving their input when they can and everyone has each other’s backs on the pitch so we’re in a good place.”
Maanum's eighth goal of the season was enough to see to all three points fell Arsenal's way.
After the heart-breaking last-gasp loss to Wolfsburg, victory over the Foxes was paramount to secure a redemptive European campaign for next season as well as any title hopes.
While Eidevall played coy after his side’s defeat on Monday, underlining the need to qualify for the campaign in a gruelling race for top three, Beattie was less phlegmatic in her belief that Arsenal could not only claim a European place but the league title come season's end.
“100%,” Beattie said. “Why not? We’ve shown in European football against Wolfsburg what we can do, and it’s credit to the girls for plugging through and getting results like this tonight.
"I think it was important for us to get back to winning ways. Monday took a lot out of us emotionally and physically. [Friday] wasn’t the best performance, but we got the job done. Three points is massive and credit to Leicester they made it really difficult for us.”
The WSL title race is set for a stellar showdown as it enters its final three weekends of fixtures. Friday’s victory sees Arsenal sit six points adrift of leaders Manchester United and fourth in the table but with a game in hand. The Gunners must still face Chelsea, who sit one place above Arsenal but with two games in hand, while United and Manchester City must also face each other.
While Chelsea and the Manchester clubs are relishing heady momentum, Arsenal’s ability to stay in the fight should not be underestimated, and Friday’s victory places them in good stead for the season’s remainder.
Arsenal return to action as they face relegation-threatened Brighton on Wednesday evening.
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