Forward pairing keeps Arsenal top but Kerr’s late strike means champion Chelsea still have title destiny in their own handsArsenal cruised to victory over Brighton on Sunday night, inspired by the attacking flair of the duo now fondly known as Viv-stenius. The arrival of Stina Blackstenius in the winter transfer window has allowed the prolific Vivianne Miedema to drop into a traditional No 10 role. Having a focal point to aim at has allowed the Dutch star to show off her array of playmaking attributes. It would not work, however, without Blackstenius up front. The partnership they have built in such a short time is remarkable and the Swedish goalscorer added two to her tally on Sunday. Arsenal are now...
Miedema hits incredible mark, Zelem does the unthinkable – twice – and Manchester City continue upwards trajectoryJust one goal Vivianne? A mere 25% of your team’s total production this weekend? Yes, the Dutch forward only scored once in the 4-2 win against Birmingham on Sunday, making the most of a loose ball in Birmingham’s pinball penalty box. She made it look simple and Miedema most likely puts dozens of those away in training, probably without looking. It is sometimes difficult to put in context just how good she is but one way to illustrate it is that the goal made her the first player in WSL history to reach 100 goal involvements What if we were to also say that...
Arsenal star’s playmaking role looked a good idea on paper, but she was unable to take the game by the scruff of the neckIn fairness, they did warn us. Perhaps, on reflection, we should have listened to Jonas Eidevall and Emma Hayes when they urged us not to treat this game as a title decider. It was many things: taut, tense, turbulent, controversial, stressful in the extreme, particularly in the closing minutes when it felt as if the entire game could pivot on a single lucky bounce.In the end, though, nothing was decided and nothing was settled. Chelsea maintained their seven-match unbeaten run, their fate still in their own hands. Arsenal retained their two-point lead at the top of the...
The two Manchester clubs are on the rise while Arsenal have made signings in an attempt to stop the rotWest Ham battled well to claim a 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Sunday night after Hawa Cissoko put her team in the worst possible position. The Hammers were 1-0 down after 54 minutes and Cissoko, who was responsible for the tackle that led to Spurs’ penalty, was sent off two minutes later for a second yellow card. But West Ham managed to claw back a point in the dying moments through a Kate Longhurst header in the 92nd minute. The comeback highlights the team’s progression as last season they could well have sunk being a goal and a player down. But...
Fifty years since the first Women’s FA Cup final, Emma Hayes’s Chelsea showed the domestic game is in rude healthA satisfying sense of symmetry surrounded a Women’s FA Cup final which, in some ways, seemed almost as much about the past as a reassuringly vibrant present.One hundred years to the day since the Football Association banned women from playing football on grounds belonging to affiliated men’s clubs on the basis that the game was “quite unsuitable for females”, Chelsea – and Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr in particular – thoroughly undid Arsenal in a final postponed from last season. Continue reading...