Arsenal salvage late 1-1 draw at home against Aston Villa
Chelsea beat Charlton 6-0 but England ace goes off early
One shot, on target and in the back of the net, was all it took for Aston Villa to reopen the wound that Arsenal had been carefully trying to stitch back up.
Despite almost 65% possession, 28 shots to one, and 56 touches in the opposition box to four, Alessia Russo’s 85th-minute goal meant Arsenal were only able to salvage a point against Villa after back-to-back wins in the league and Champions League had appeared to have kickstarted their season.
Hemp strikes back as Manchester City edge out London City Lionesses in thrillerRead moreThe worst possible scenario for a team that has struggled against low blocks arrived in the 25th minute, when Lynn Wilms found Chasity Grant, who fired low into the bottom corner. It was a hammer blow to the home team, with Villa knowing exactly what to do next: stick 11 players behind the ball and frustrate the Gunners.
Russo’s late goal spared Arsenal’s blushes a little, the forward flicking a header in at the far post from a Stina Blackstenius cross, but the reprieve delivered by Arsenal’s victories over Tottenham and Benfica has been rolled back.
The Gunners have an incredibly tricky run of fixtures coming up, with Liverpool away followed by Barcelona, London City and then Lyonnes. And, despite the back-to-back wins, they haven’t been able to resolve the problems in the final third that have plagued every performance.
The pressure will be back on head coach Renée Slegers and there are questions to be asked about some decision making. However, with similar problems present under Joe Montemurro and Jonas Eidevall before her, maybe it’s time to look beyond the head coach.
Elsewhere Lauren James was forced off with an injury in the first half of Chelsea’s 6-0 win at Charlton. The England forward was replaced by Erin Cuthbert in the 35th minute with the away team 4-0 up. There were five different goalscorers with Melvine Malard getting two. The coach, Sonia Bompastor, said: “It is too soon [to know] about Lauren’s injury. I spoke to her at half-time and it seems to be her hamstring so we will have to have a proper assessment tomorrow.”
Tottenham climbed to fourth in the table after a comprehensive 4-1 win at Birmingham City. The Spurs midfielder Drew Spence set a new all-time WSL appearance record with 2017 to move one above the former Chelsea defender Millie Bright. West Ham were also 4-1 winners, over Liverpool, in their third league win of the season, leapfrogging their opponents in the table to move up to 10th.
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Annabel Blanchard gave Crystal Palace the lead at Brighton with a glorious long-range effort but the visitors could not hold on and strikes from Caitlin Hayes and Sophie Peskett completed the turnaround 2-1 win for Arturo Ruiz’s side. “I think that these three wins in a row will be key for the rest of the season and we are in a very good moment,” Ruiz told the club website. “And I think that we are showing what we want to do in terms of our energy. The first half was very good even though we conceded a goal.”