HT BAY 0-2 ARS We've been the better team... by far! It could/should be 0-4 actually. We completely owned them from the off, which led to an opportunistic opening goal by Fox. We high-pressed them fantastically. A bit later we got our second from Caldentey just made a yard of space an smacked it to the roof. Something tells me that Bayern are going to get more aggressive in 2T. I just hope we are fit & willing enough to keep pressing them, and not sit back and try to manage 2-0.
FT BAY 3-2 ARS Indeed BM came out of the break a completely different team. More physical, pressed us hard, forced us into mistakes & turnovers. One of which led to it becoming 1-2. Game got stretched. Gaps opened in MF. And seconds after we had a great chance for 1-3, on the ensuing counter, one of our all-time nemeses, Pernilla Harder, made it 2-2. At that point (82') Renee made her 5th and final sub (Smith) but that wasn't enough to stop the German onslaught, and their captain Viggisdottir made in 3-2 at 86'. All 3 of their goals were assisted by Buhl I believe. In the end, you could argue that a draw would've been more fair. But you could also say that we squandered good chances in 1T to ensure a 3rd goal to secure that.
Oops I’ve been asleep at the wheel! The Ladies NLD is on right now. I forgot about it so I’m gonna watch it on a bit of delay (ESPN+). Will check back later. COYG!!!!
FT TOT 0-0 ARS A frustrating watch (which I zipped through using skip 10s liberally). And an even more frustrating game for our gals... We dominated: the ball, the time in opponents half/third/box, the chances (xG 0.16 - 1.68), and all the stats frankly. And sorry to bring up that key word again "clinical" but we. were. NOT. Frustration compounded by the fact that CFC dropped 2pts earlier, which we of course were well aware of. So really imperative for the chasing teams to get all 3pts, and only MC was able to do that. Oh, and LCL who are now just 1pt behind us . Anyway, with an 8pt gap to Citeh, with only 13 games remaining, and barring some sort of miracle, it's safe to say our title chances are gone. Smith was a bright spot. She came on for 2T, made a BIG difference. Probably POTM in just 45mins. Also nice to see Cooney-Cross get a start and a full 90, and she seemed OK (but there's a huge drop-off from Little to her or Pelova) Renee's subs were earlier than usual, but predictable, like for like, and I feel that her tactics have gone a bit stale. Having finished last season so strong, especially the UWCL trophy, it's a little tough to see how this season has gone so far, on all fronts. And yet... Onward we go...
As the world turns, so does Northbank's news service ... And back to hosting midweek UWCL: Arsenal vs Real Madrid TODAY 3:00pm ET on P+/CBSSN Meadow Park No changes injury-wise, which of course means we're still missing to vital spinal players in Little & Williamson. Still we *should* beat RM. Last weekend we both played arch-rivals away. We came away with an impotent 0-0 draw, whilst RM got well beaten by Barca 4-0. But no more shoulda/coulda from our gals. This is as close to a must-win as it gets, being as we are right on the edge of being outside the playoff positions for the knockout stage. Play this like a cup final please! COYG!!!!
HT 0-1. A fairly drab 1T with only 1 SOG in total, which happened to be Caroline Weir with a near-golazo volley for their goal at 43'. And continuing the Scots 24hrs of joy? We'll need to have something to say about that in 2T.
And finally!!... FT ARS 2-1 RM The difference was Alessia Russo and her 2 headed goals. Clearly the POTM on the night. She coulda/shoulda had 3 maybe 4. You could say we just shaded it and weren't massively impressive, but we did just what was required. After a tough 1T and rough run of matches... Phew! p.s. Special mention to Chloe Kelly who got her first start in a while. She assisted first goal with her trademark superb deliveries from wide/corner. If she can get/maintain fitness, get more minutes, she's an X-factor. p.p.s. The 24hrs of Scots joy is officially over.
Not that anybody seems real interested, but... AWFC vs Liverpool tomorrow (Sat) 7:00am ET Espn+ Nice coordination between WSL & EPL there! I may try to do multi-screen?
FT ARS 2-1 LIV A rather unimpressive but absolutely vital win. But over the worst team in the league TBF. And at the Grove no less. Stina off the bench with the game winner… yet again! Maybe just maybe we can build from this? And maybe just maybe getting Little back on the pitch today and Williamson back on the bench could also be vital?
Things got slightly more interesting when Chel$ki actually lost today at home to lowly Everton! Ending a 34 game, 18 month undefeated streak. Meanwhile both set of Mancs won. So with 10 of 22 games played, the top looks like: MCFC 27 CFC 21 MUFC 20 ————— AFC 19 THFC 19
Of course never say never but considering a number of factors, I think top 3 (UWCL qualification) is our realistic goal now. ps. And as for this season’s UWCL tourney we host Twente tomorrow (Tues) 3pm ET. And a result is crucial as we’re only 1 point inside the playoff positions.
HT ARS 1-0 TWE Another game where we completely dominate, and yet all we have to show for it is one deflected goal by Mead. She and her counterpart on the opposite side (Smith) have been very active. But feels like we could be a little less careful with our possession play, play more directly, and urgently. We don't want to get end up like last match where we had to depend on a late late winner by our Swedish super sub.
FT ARS 1-0 TWE Well, we squeaked out another 1-goal win. Better than the alternative for sure. But in a game where we dominated so much*, took the O2 completely away from our opponents, it totally shoulda been 3-0 or 4-0. * Poss %: 61-39, Shots: 16(5)-2(1) Smith impressed me in her 60' on the pitch. She's got a nice mix of skill, power and guts. And zero fear. She was a fantastic pickup by the club. Hinds played until 82', giving Fox a well deserved breather (she may be the most overworked player for club & country I know) One scary moment in 2T when our 3rd string keeper Borbe took a blow to he face/nose. Many thought we were gonna see our 4th string 17YO keeper. Luckily not! But without #1 Daphne (until January I hear) and #2 Manu (out for season w/ ACL), we should bring in someone experienced this January. Another scary moment came in the final 95th minute when Twente had a rare foray into our box and Borbe had to be alert to beat the on-rushing forward. Coulda been disaster. Anyway, improved our UCL league position to 6th (for the moment). Onward...
HT EVE 1-2 ARS Should be a much bigger spread, especially considering the stats so far: Poss %: 25 - 75 Shots: 12(2) - 6(1) xG: 0.20 - 1.44 And especially considering EFC’s last outing they handed CFC their first defeat in 34 games.
FT EVE 1-3 ARS Not a whole lot happened in 2T except a non-chalant 20yd volley by Sophia Smith at 88’ to bag our 3rd and settle things. Well done gals. Did what was needed. Now let’s see what the others around us do tomorrow, especially MUFC/THFC who face each other so points will be dropped. Edit: Oh and Leah made her long awaited return for the last 10-15 mins. That could really help with our run in.
UWCL MD6 (last group game) 3pm ET tomorrow away at Leuven. On P+ as usual. We sit in 8th, secure to make playoffs, but unlikely to make top 4 and automatically into QF's. Still we have motivation to stay as high up the table to ensure a "lower" playoff opponent. But Leuven have perhaps even more motivation because they sit 12th, right on the precipice of dropping out of the competition. I'm taking a few days of R&R so I may not be able to really watch this. But for our next playoff match, I might possibly be able to watch this in person, however I think that may only be possible if we actually lose tomorrow and drop down the table. Strange little dilemma I might be facing.
HT LUV 0-2 ARS I got to see part if it. One way traffic. Excellent Goals from Mead & Smith. The latter a textbook case of why you should always follow your shot. Gotta go out now so gals better not fvck this one up!
FT LUV 0 - 3 ARS Well done. Complete dominance… Shots: 7(0) - 24(12) We finish 5th, top seed of the playoffs. Leuven manage to stay in 12th as the bottom seed. I wonder if we might play them next, which would be weird. Draw is tomorrow I think.
Palace 0-2 AWFC in League Cup QF. And we advance to a SF against Yanited (I think). We made quite heavy going of it. Palace hit the woodwork a few times. Reminded me a bit of yesterday's men's game, and in the end our superior quality in depth was probably the deciding factor. We clung to a 1-0 lead for much of the match but it never really felt assured. Until the best moment of the match just after 90' when Mead went an improvised weave through 4-5 defenders in their box, then upon encountering a final brick wall, pushed it back to Stina who deftly slotted it home. Winter break for them now until Jan.10. I bet Mikel and his team are a bit jealous of that.
FT AWFC 0-0 MUFC A very frustrating draw, especially when it was close to a must-win game against the 2 teams vying for 3rd place and the critical last UWCL spot. We completely dominated the ball and the stats, and although our shooting was fairly impotent, we had enough close chances that we should’ve won by 1 or 2 goals. But Yanited were well organized and happy to play for a draw, especially when they went down to 10 players at 65’. They were also aided by competent shot-stopping and supreme time-wasting by Tullis-Joyce in goal. She sat down 3X I think, with no real injury, wasting 1-2 mins each time. (On that front, I think the respective refereeing org’s are gonna have to come up with something this summer to thwart this latest scourge of the game. And in Janssen's post-match interview she explicitly admitted that PTJ went down after the red card to allow them a team/coach huddle.) In the end, as you were. With us clinging to 3rd place by a single point over Yanited. At FT, the stoic Slegers looked about as visibly frustrated as you’ll ever see her. p.s. We saw our January signing get a few mins at the end: Smilla Holmberg straight swap for Emily Fox at RB... badly overdue help for the overworked American who seemed to tweak her knee slightly in 2T.
In other recent news... Renee Slegers contract was renewed for +4yrs, a big vote of confidence it seems (of course we know that doesn't mean she might not be out at any time!) Jodie Taylor was appointed Technical Director, simultaneous to Renee's extension Jenna Nighswonger is to be going out on loan, a perfect example of how disunity between recruitment and coaching can freeze out a player. A loan is good new for Jenna, if not perfect. Backup GK Naomi Williams was recalled from a loan, which seems to say we aren't buying an emergency GK this month One new Jan signing I'm aware of is 18YO Smilla Holmberg who had her brief debut as deputy RB today and she did OK I thought