40' Stina heads in her hat trick and Arsenal go up 4-0. Hmm, this is 2 first halves like this in 48hrs... I could get used to this.
FT 4-0. Shots 14(6)-3(1). The defending champs are off to the Final again. To meet Chelsea or City. It was a rather similar performance to the men's last match, at least how we annihilated them in 1T. Then they maybe took their foot off the gas more so, so zero goals in 2T, but also no need for them... in the cup. Stina got a well deserved hattie. Leah got another 60' in her legs. And no new injuries. Only one potential bummer: the Final is set for March 31 at 3pm GMT, which overlaps a bit with a slightly important match the men have at 4:30pm that day.
Chloe Lacasse won POTM for Feb. https://www.arsenal.com/news/cloe-lacasse-wins-womens-player-month Completely well-deserved. She's been my pleasantly-surprised-signing-of-the-season. Along with Emily Fox, they've made huge contributions to our success. p.s. both played last night on a dreadful pond of a pitch in San Diego. Should never have been allowed but CONCACAF overruled the HR. Chloe went 75' is done and can return to London. Emily went 120' (ugh!), receiving some physical abuse, and will likely play in the Final on Sunday (double ugh!)
Huge match for the gals in 48hrs... CFC vs AWFC Stamford Bridge Friday 15 March 3:00ET Paramount+ If we win we go level with them, and it's a legit 3-horse race (sound familiar?) and if we lose, that's probably our title chances gone, and the 2 blue teams go battle it out.
And here’s a little early team news… We’ll be missing Amanda Ilestedt for some time, because… she’s pregnant. Now there’s something we haven’t had to deal with on the men’s team! Beyond some brief paternity leaves, or a bit of sleep deprivation after a newborn. The full team news should be out tomorrow I assume.
Well the WSL is still going through some growing pains apparently... KO has been delayed 30 mins because (get this) Arsenal had the wrong color socks and didn't have alternatives handy. So now both teams are out warming up again, us with some very funky looking socks (gray/black/blue). Was having 2 teams with white socks really that bad as to hold up kickoff, post-match plans, TV broadcast window, etc?? On top of that the WSL feed's match commentator went silent during the whole delay. Seriously? He couldn't ad lib with some background info? Or they couldn't play some highlights or something? Oh well, only 10 mins more to wait now
15' Lauren James has been a bit too much to handle so far. She beat Catley easily, then Zinzberger got a hand on the point-blank shot but couldn't keep it out. 1-0 to the blue meanies. Next goal is absolutely key obviously.
32' and now it's 3-0. Ooof! A poor risky cross-field pass by Leah Williamson easily intercepted. Then a bit of a lucky deflection but you make your luck yada yada. We look shell shocked. And a step slower.
FT CWFC 3-1 AWFC Boy that was completely deflating. Coulda easily been 5-1 or worse if our GK hadn't made some key saves in 2T. Not sure I've seen us play that badly this season. A tentative shadow of ourselves. Mucho mistakes. And lookin like ManUre in those black socks. Credit to Hayes & her players, many of whom are second-teamers. Hungrier, quicker to 50/50's, more physical, etc, etc. Barring a bizarre collapse by 2 teams ahead of us, that's our title hopes gone. Now just 3rd place for UCL... should be do-able.
Yep. Although, I thought she could've done better on James's first goal Our off the ball work was poor. We looked slow and left soooo much open space. Also bizarre decisions like playing that poor full width switch on a free kick that lead to the (admittedly lucky) second goal. Just not a good showing. I think serious questions should be asked of Eidveall.
We've dominated the ball, but without a ton of danger... no big surprise I suppose. At 35' Villa have their first shot on goal... and it's 1-0 to the hosts... no big surprise I suppose. Another hole we've dug ourselves... no big surprise I suppose.
After we missed several sitters, hit the woodwork 2 or 3 times, forced their GK into 3 or 4 big saves... 84' Wubben-Moy heads in for 2-1. Phew! Now hold on for dear life! Edit: Seconds after I hit "post" Blackstenius makes it 3-1 . After a debatable handball by her after falling down onto the ball. BUT that's what it's like in the WSL w/o VAR... the good ole days.
FT AV 1-3 ARS Shots: 1(1) - 37(13) Poss: 34% - 66% Good to see that in the end we could do what our pedigree says we should be able to do. But we left it a bit late, made it a bit nervier than need be. Credit Jonas for making some super attack-minded subs... which in the end overwhelmed the Villains.
And now the other huge match vs Chelsea in 30hrs... AWFC vs CFC League Cup Final Molineux Sunday 31 March 10:00ET Streaming: Paramount+/Golazo, FAPlayer Obviously this overlaps/conflicts with the men's huge match (seems that someone should've adjusted one or the other but that's another discussion) but I'm gonna do my level best to give both matches my fullest possible attention. We should be able to have a very strong squad (the main big miss being Walti) so it's more of matter of mental fitness. If we play like we did in the last "match" against CFC it's gonna get be real depressing around the club. But avoiding that scenario is completely within their grasp, so take charge from the get go PLEASE... COYG!!!!
22' Mayra Ramirez goal is overruled. THANK GOD FOR VAR! So it remains 0-0. But that was ominous. We can't afford any defensive lapses like that.
HT 0-0 We really came into that half and made it a more than fair contest. We're edging the stats... just. Not a ton of dangerous chances on either side. But at one point McCabe said "fvck this I'm havin a go" and with one of the lasers she's capable of, from 20-25 yards she forced Hampton into a really good save. First goal seems like it's gonna be a huge determinant.
Codina comes on for Williamson. Leah had some strapping on her knee so I suspect that might be related to her removal. Big moment for the Spaniard to step up. Hope she's up to it.
65' Lacasse is in on the keeper and hits it right at her. Hard to not feel like that was our chance. But sure it's anyone's game still. Meanwhile Zinsberger goes down a 2nd time for treatment of a thigh injury. Yet D'Angelo is not stripped and ready to replace her. Hmm...
85' James forces Zinsberger into fine kick save... and with her left leg which appeared to be injured.