Defeat at Meadow Park sees Carla Ward’s team out of the Continental Cup after reaching the semi-final of the competition for the very first time.
Going into this game, Aston Villa women were already being widely discounted from being called the ‘underdogs’ and even remarks such as “no one expects Aston Villa to go any further in this competition… it’s a free shot for them…” on the build-up commentary was very telling of how much this game, in most minds, was Arsenal’s to lose.
However, the 100 or so travelling Villa fans and thousands more watching at home were cautiously optimistic (as they had come so close to defeating Arsenal at the Emirates at the beginning of the season) and even despite an incredibly rocky season have pulled out some surprises. But for the fans, they had only one expectation: for Villa to play their hearts out and leave absolutely everything out on the field.
In order to combat the home side’s squad, Villa were able to make a few changes to the team that suffered defeat to Liverpool the previous weekend; with Danielle Turner and Rachel Daly both making welcome returns to the starting lineup. Unfortunately, Carla Ward’s side were still missing Canadian superstar Adriana Leon (who is currently representing Canada in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup) which was a massive creative loss for the West Midlands side who have been struggling to score in her absence.
As soon as the whistle went, Arsenal dominated from the off and Alessia Russo nearly had the opener within the first minute of the game. A telling sign of what was to come.
Within 12 minutes, Stina Blackstenius was already on her way to scoring a hattrick after two goals in quick succession as Villa struggled to get out of their own half and were able to be dispossessed so easily.
Two goals weren’t enough however and soon Arsenal’s relentless attacks saw Frida Maanum become the next to contribute to the scoresheet with a lovely strike from outside of the box. Although Alisha Lehmann created Villa’s best (and only) chance in the first half, Zinsberger was never really troubled. With the majority of Arsenal’s attacking coming down the wings, through the likes of Katie McCabe and Beth Mead, they forced Villa’s defence to stretch and create gaps for Eidevall’s side to effortlessly glide across the pitch.
The claret and blue army’s drum sounded loudly throughout the away end of Meadow Park, urging the pride to keep fighting but with the North Bank chanting for Stina to get her hattrick, she happily obliged before the half-time whistle by taking advantage of a loose ball that Villa just couldn’t clear.
It felt as though Villa’s usually tight and strong defence, were incredibly hesitant, almost waiting for someone else to deal with any attack, rather than using their initiative to clear the ball. In this first half, Arsenal were able to score from all of their shots on target, which not only was incredibly impressive but it just showed the gap in the levels between Arsenal and Aston Villa in terms of squad depth and quality on the pitch. Villa’s formation for example in this first half wasn’t clear at all, Rachel Daly was back in her old ways of playing in every position on the pitch, even popping up at left-back late in the second half, just showing that need for extra bodies on the line, rather than pushing her further up the pitch to be that attacking outlet if needed.
With the score standing at 4-0 to Arsenal, Villa’s luck was about to get even worse as Kirsty Hanson had to withdraw through injury (replaced by Ebony Salmon) in the dying moments of the first half. Seeing as a lot of Villa chances were coming down that left-hand side through the Scottish international; it was a huge blow to not only the team, but for the fans to see her retreat into the changing rooms. It was clear Carla Ward needed to prepare a huge half-time team talk if Villa were to take anything away this evening.
Coming back out after half-time it felt as though Villa had their fire back in their bellies and it was possible to make something of these 45 minutes. As Carla Ward mentioned in her post-match interview, the second-half was all about “pride” and how it was either “roll your sleeves up or roll over”, and luckily, Villa came out and did the former and held Arsenal to a goalless second half (although a Frida Maanum effort was ruled out for offside).
Finally, the away side were showing moments of some lovely link-up play and even doubled their attempts on goal! Firstly, Ebony Salmon tried to find Rachel Daly in the box and if it wasn’t for some risky defending from Katie McCabe which saw the ball go out for a corner, it would have worked too. Ultimately, the away team couldn’t make anything of the set piece and the chance was lost. Moments later, Jordan Nobbs even came close to scoring (1 shot on target) against her old club with one of her trademark shots from outside of the box, but unfortunately it was straight into the hands of Zinsberger who saved it comfortably.
Considering most fans were envisioning a double figure scoreline, most were happy to keep the 4-0 scoreline, which is saying something.
Throughout the game, the player of the match for Aston Villa had to be Jordan Nobbs. She was just a complete powerhouse throughout and used all of her prior Arsenal knowledge and skill to try and disrupt the home team’s constant attacks; and for the most part, our number 8 was incredibly successful. Her tenacity and grit is why she’s such a fantastic addition to Villa and why we rate her incredibly highly.
As the final whistle blew to a disappointing evening, the Villa drum still beat loudly, the singing continued as it had throughout the match and the Villa scarves were brandished with pride as we clapped the team as they came towards the 100 or so strong away support. In that moment, we couldn’t help but think, although Aston Villa didn’t play too badly overall, Arsenal were just too much of a dominant force on the night. They were able to prove why they are in contention for the WSL title and Champions League this season with their: pace, power, dominance, quality on the ball and ability to read the game is just… at a completely different level. The Red and White Army progress to the final very comfortably indeed.
Arsenal Women will now face Chelsea Women in the Continental Cup Final at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton on March 31st at 15:00.
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