Leicester 0-5 Arsenal
Vivianne Miedema scored twice in a second-half flurry of goals as Arsenal shook off their Champions League exit to reclaim top spot in the WSL table before Chelsea host Reading later on Sunday.
Beth Mead’s volley put the Gunners ahead at half-time, before Miedema struck in the 67th and 75th minutes to secure the victory. Ashleigh Plumptre turned a cross into her own net four minutes later, before Tobin Heath got the fifth goal late on.
Manchester United kept up their push for a Champions League place with a 1-0 win over Brighton. Leah Galton scored the second-half winner in a hard-fought contest to help United move three points clear of Manchester City in third place.
Tottenham are 10 points behind United as their faint hopes of European football suffered a blow in a surprise home defeat to Aston Villa. Ramona Petzelberger scored the winner for Carla Ward’s side with three minutes left on the clock.
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Thanks for joining me for this match. See you all soon.
Full-time! Leicester 0-5 Arsenal
The inevitable outcome here even if it did take a while for the second goal to come. The win leaves Arsenal top for a few hours at least and they are now level with Chelsea on goal difference but the Blues play later this afternoon. Leicester tried as hard as they could for as long as they could but the gulf in glass from obvious from kick-off.
90+4 mins: More good work by Parris allows her to put in a cross but Mead fouls Howard inside the Leicester area to end the attack.
90+2 mins: Seven minutes? There was a little delay for Williamson having some treatment but it did not take that long. Also, it’s 5-0, so common sense should take precedent. The fourth official must really like being in the technical area.
90 mins: Seven minutes added on! Not a clue why.
88 mins: A foul throw from Heath. Give the points to Leicester! I am always surprised when a professional fails to take a throw-in correctly.
86 mins: Arsenal are chasing more goals now as they look to improve their goal difference which could be crucial come the end of the season.
GOAL! Leicester 0-5 Arsenal (Heath, 83)
More good work from Parris as she plays a one-two with Mead to earn some space to whack a shot across goal which is going wide until Heath chests in at the back post.
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80 mins: Heath and Nobbs on for Miedema and Foord.
GOAL! Leicester 0-4 Arsenal (Plumptre og, 79)
Parris gets space on the right and drives a low cross into the six-yard box which Plumptre diverts into her own net.
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78 mins: Arsenal very much in cruise control.
GOAL! Leicester 0-3 Arsenal (Miedema, 75)
A free-flowing move from Arsenal ends with Miedema jabbing home her second after a neat touch from Parris into her path.
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73 mins: Leicester are not showing any extra ambition here. Just a case of keeping the score down.
71 mins: Parris comes on for Arsenal in place of Blackstenius. Meanwhile Leicester bring on Bailey-Gayle for Flint.
69 mins: Leicester have had one shot all day, so a comeback here is pretty much out of the question.
GOAL! Leicester 0- 2 Arsenal (Miedema, 67)
A mildly unfortunate goal as Mead is tackled inside the box but the ball goes straight to Miedema who knocks into an empty net.
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65 mins: Leicester have had two corners today and both hand been easily taken by Zinsberger. If you have next to no chance of scoring from open play, you really need to make the most of set-pieces.
63 mins: Walti takes down O’Brien, who is certainly Leicester’s most lively player.
McCabe and Little off, Catley and Maanum on as Arsenal look to the bench.
61 mins: Flint tries to use her body against Wubben-Moy but instead gives her a whack in the back to give away a free-kick.
59 mins: Lambourne does well to claim a high ball under pressure from Wienroither. Arsenal are in control but seem to be overplaying things a little now in and around the Leicester box.
57 mins: O’Brien does great work to chase a ball over the top, putting pressure on Wubben-Moy who taps it back to Zinsberger but the goalkeeper panics and plays a poor pass. Nothing comes of it but it’s a nice sign of intent from Leicester.
O’Brien ruins her good work by kicking Walti for no reason.
55 mins: Leicester very committed to the low block and are performing valiantly.
53 mins: The vibe is very similar to the first half: Arsenal enjoy all the possession and Leicester do what they can to stop them scoring.
Mead lifts in a cross which should cause no problems but Lambourne drops the ball under no pressure, although the Gunners cannot punish her mistake.
51 mins: Arsenal have another corner from the let for McCabe to whip into the box but it is flicked clear by a blue head.
49 mins: Williamson tries to head a corner towards goal but mistimes it and gets the ball in the face. She turns to run back to her position but has to stop and drops to her haunches. The medical staff come to check on her. She manages to walk off to the side by herself and looks ready to return.
47 mins: Arsenal play a smart corner which reaches an onrushing Mead who absolutely thwacks a shot towards the top corner but De Graaf is on the line to head clear. De Graaf ends up in the back of the net but the ball doesn’t which is all that matters. What a block.
Second half
Here we go again!
I interviewed Simao which is irrelevant for this game but here you go.
Arsenal have had 73% possession in the opening 45 minutes. I thought it was more.
Here is the goal.
No hesitation from @bmeado9 to give @ArsenalWFC the lead!
— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) April 3, 2022
Watch the #BarclaysFAWSL live on @BBCTwo 📺 pic.twitter.com/eqgT3pNZak
Half-time: Leicester 0-1 Arsenal
Mead’s strike inside 90 seconds was a worrying start for Leicester after losing 9-0 last week but they have performed well since, despite being camped in their own half for 45 minutes. It still looks like Arsenal will cruise to victory but at least it is competitive.
45 mins: Two minutes added on.
44 mins: Leicester’s great fear now is tiredness due to how much work they have put into keeping Arsenal at bay. They will need some careful substitution planning in the second half and hope to avoid injuries.
42 mins: Great credit to Leicester for not capitulating after that early Arsenal opener. I fully expected them to be a few down by half-time but they have stuck to their task incredibly well, aided by some great Lambourne saves. The latest coming from Foord who receives the ball in space inside the box and takes aim but Lambourne spreads herself well to repel it.
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40 mins: McCabe pings a free-kick against the wall, leaving Goodwin in pain. She is on the floor but is smiling despite being winded.
38 mins: Tierney is penalised for getting Mead in a headlock, which is fair enough. She is booked for her WWE moves.
36 mins: Miedema goes over to retrieve the ball from the other side of the hoardings after it transpires the ball girl is not tall enough to reach it.
Leicester have had a shot! O’Brien gets down the right and picks out Flint in the box who fires at goal at the first time of asking but her effort is deflected behind.
34 mins: Little drives towards the box but despite having numerous better options she stretches to shoot, resulting in a weak effort for Lambourne to gobble up.
32 mins: Miedema turns sharply and flashes a shot from the edge of the box that slams off the inside of the post and away. On closer inspection it is a fine save from Lambourne who gets her fingertip to the shot.
30 mins: Arsenal are enjoying so much joy down the left that McCabe is currently playing as an auxiliary winger to utilise all the space available.
28 mins: Leicester break into the Arsenal half but they give up possession about 40 yards from goal. It’s a tough day for Flint up top.
26 mins: McCabe picks out Miedema with a perfect slide pass, the Dutch international takes a touch then whacks a low shot at goal through bodies from 15 yards, which Lambourne saves with her feet.
24 mins: De Graff is dispossessed by Foord in her own, allowing the Arsenal forward to make a break for goal, only to be tackled on the edge of the box by O’Brien. It is a great tackle but the referee inexplicably gives a free-kick. Mead aims for the bottom corner with the free-kick but it is deflected wide.
22 mins: Miedema whacks a bouncing ball from inside the area but Lambourne is equal to it, turning the shot behind for a corner, which is cleared with ease.
20 mins: Leicester are working very hard to keep closing Arsenal down but they will get very tired soon enough as the visitors are enjoying all the possession.
18 mins: Foord runs at De Graaf once more, earning a corner for her efforts. Mead swings it in from the left, it doesn’t get off the ground and eventually Leicester get it out for another corner. The second corner lands on Miedema’s head but her weak effort is blocked, allowing Leicester to clear.
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16 mins: Foord gets down the left once more but her cross is a poor, easily caught by Lambourne.
14 mins: McCabe goes right through the back of Tierney to become the second Arsenal player to go into the book.
12 mins: All the action is taking place in and around the Leicester box. Foord cuts in from the left and lets fly but her shot goes closer to the corner flag than goal. I think Arsenal will get another soon enough.
I am not sure if Leicester have touched the ball in Arsenal’s half yet. It’s not all their fault as Wubben-Moy earns a booking for cleaning out O’Brien on the halfway to stop her from breaking free.
10 mins: Eidevall removes his jacket, as it is such a lovely day in Leicester. Arsenal passing the ball around with glee and Leicester are chasing shadows.
8 mins: Arsenal are controlling possession. Mead receives the ball at the back post and looks to whack it across the box but only succeeds in finding a defender’s face to earn Arsenal a corner. Leicester’s De Graaf looks like she is in for a terrible time at right-back today, everything in is coming down that side.
6 mins: I would usually say Leicester need a response at this point but they really just need to not concede again, considering they were three goals down after seven minutes last week.
4 mins: Goalkeeper Lambourne stays down for some treatment after conceding. She did not offer much resistance to the goal, so has solved the problem by readjusting her shinpad. The delay allows the Leicester squad to receive instruction from the manager. I am not sure what advice would help at this point after losing 9-0 last week.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Arsenal (Mead, 2)
Leicester said they wanted to stay in the game for longer today but Mead has superbly volleyed in a Foord cross to open the scoring. Game over?
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Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Lydia Bedford: “I think the biggest priority for us is to stay in the game longer. We have an aggressive style of football in terms of how we press which has worked against the teams around us but it caught us out against Chelsea.”
Jonas Eidevall: “All you can do, is do your best. You have to live in the moment, you have to play the game, play the situation.”
Just watching the buildup to the match on BBC 2. The Hairy Bikers are currently doing abstract punditry by discussing fish in Finland.
Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said after losing to Wolfsburg: “There are things we need to develop, and we need to spend the rest of this season and next year’s pre-season in order to develop it, but also to say, now is the time to refocus, be sharp and get ready for Sunday. It’s one thing to lose one game, but we need to be ready for the next one and that requires a lot from everyone.”
Man City saw off West Ham yesterday.
You do not have to listen to me go on about the title race, instead you can read the thoughts of Thai food enthusiast Karen Carney.
Starting lineups
Leicester: Lambourne, De Graaf, Howard, Plumptre, Purfield, Goodwin, Tierney, Barker, Gregory, O’Brien, Flint
Subs: Harris, Brougham, Smith, Robinson, Boddy, Devlin, Baker, Bailey-Gayle.
Arsenal: Zinsberger, Wienroither, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, McCabe, Walti, Little, Miedema, Mead, Foord, Blackstenius
Subs: Williams, Beattie, Boye, Maritz, Catley, Hobbs, Maanum, Heath, Parris
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Good morning
The Women’s Super League title race is going down to the wire and Arsenal cannot afford any slip ups. The distraction of the Champions League is over after their defeat to Wolfsburg in midweek, so they can put more energy into their domestic fixtures.
Chelsea are one point above Arsenal and thrashed the Gunners’ opponents Leicester 9-0 last week, so no one is really expecting a shock here. Arsenal’s one loss of the season, however, came again Birmingham who have only procured five points all season and, needless to say, sit very snugly at the bottom of the table.
Leicester will be aiming to show they are not the pushovers the world thinks but they only have 12 points from their 18 matches so far, so there is limited evidence of this.
Let’s hope for some goals and entertainment.
Kick-off: 12.30pm BST
