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In their first match in three weeks, Arsenal travelled to Copperjax Community Stadium to take on London City Lionesses, where they earned a 2-0 win. The Gunners currently sit fourth in the Women’s Super League table with two games in-hand on the leaders.
Meanwhile, London City are in seventh place in their inaugural season in the top flight with just one win in their last five. However, they have impressed in their maiden campaign, with wins over the likes of Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Gunners secured their latest win thanks to goals from Olivia Smith and Stina Blackstenius.
Starting XIs
Arsenal
Borbe; Wubben-Moy, Fox, Williamson, Little Maanum, McCabe, Russo, Kelly, Smith, Caldentey.
London City
Lete; Pattinson, Sangaré, Goldie, Fernández, Geyoro, van de Donk, Marcetto Rylov, Corrales, Godfrey, Franssi.
Arsenal keep unbeaten run going with London City win
The home side had some excellent pressure early on, and certainly could have taken the lead. Sanni Fraansi sent a perfect cross in for Freya Godfrey. Unfortunately, her finish went over the crossbar and the score remained 0-0. Arsenal then found the breakthrough in the 15th minute.
A pass into the box from Chloe Kelly came right onto Olivia Smith’s foot directly in front of goal. The Canadian international made no mistake in placing the ball top bin for an early Gunner lead. A medical emergency in the stands paused the game for a short time in the 22nd minute.
Once play restarted, the Gunners controlled the play for the rest of the half. Neither side were able to find the back of the net, and the sides went into the half with the Gunners up by one.
Stina Blackstenius puts the game to bed
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As in the first half, the Lionesses started with good pressure on the visitors. After some back and forth play, Katie McCabe found herself alone outside the box, but her effort sailed above the goal. The hosts had an excellent play in the 57th minute that lead to an open shot from Franssi, but Anneke Borbe made an easy save.
The next 20 minutes saw play take place mostly between the boxes, and then the breakthrough came. Perhaps the most terrifying sight to see as a second half sub, Stina Blackstenius came on for Frida Maanum. The Swedish international wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Mariona Caldentey dropped a beautiful over the top ball to a streaking Alessia Russo, who sent a perfect feed to Blackstenius in the middle of the box. The striker easily slotted past Elene Lete to double the Gunner lead.
The Lionesses would not go down easily, however. Immediately following the second Arsenal goal, the hosts came down and applied tremendous pressure. The ball ended up just outside the Arsenal goal line, and Borbe could not grab it. London City were unable to turn it in, however, and Arsenal preserved their two-goal margin. Sub Kosovare Asllani struck a smart free-kick late in the match that looked headed for the corner, but Borbe gobbled it up. The visitors held fast, and collected their fourth straight WSL clean sheet.
Player to watch
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Poppy Pattinson. The defender was all over the pitch today, and she is playing the best football of her life as of late. She shows great football intelligence and instincts on both offence and defence, and has tremendous leaderships qualities.
What’s next?
Arsenal will host West Ham on Saturday at The Emirates, with kick-off scheduled for 12pm GMT. Meanwhile, London City prepare to host Chelsea at The Den in Millwall, also on Saturday at 12pm.
