ARSENAL MADE IT two wins from two in the Women’s Super League with a 4-0 thumping of North London rivals Tottenham in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Emirates.
Beth Mead and Rafaelle Souza both scored, while Vivianne Miedema netted a brace to open her account for the season in a dominant display from the Gunners.
The game was played in front of a crowd of 47,367 at the Emirates, a new WSL attendance record.
Irish star McCabe made her 158th appearance in all competitions for the Gunners, which leaves her tied at the top of the club appearance charts with Mead.
Introducing our starting XI...
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) September 24, 2022
COME ON YOU GUNNERS! ❤️#NorthLondonDerby 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/wJk3RSgVLa
Arsenal were straight out of the blocks and came close to an opener just minutes into the game when Lia Walti picked out an unmarked Mead in the middle of the area, but her shot was deflected away.
Mead made no mistake with her next opportunity. After finding space on the left her attempted cross was cleared straight back to her and the England star curled an effort into the far corner to put the Gunners in front four minutes in.
Spurs had their first move of the game seven minutes before the break. They made headway down the right and an opportunity opened up for Celin Bizet Ildhusoy, but Manuela Zinsberger made a comfortable save.
The Gunners’ dominance was rewarded in the 43rd minute when Caitlin Foord capitalised on a poor touch from Eveliina Summanen and squared the ball to Miedema, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Their charge continued after the break and Souza added the third in the 54th minute, towering above her marker from a corner to head into the top corner.
Arsenal extended their lead from another corner 15 minutes later. A short ball was played to Foord, who whipped in a cross to Miedema and the Dutch forward flicked the ball home with her head for her second of the afternoon.
On a rare foray forward, the visitors earned a corner, but the resulting shot flew wide. Minutes later Ashleigh Neville hit a menacing cross into the area, but Ramona Petzelberger was unable to get her head to it as Arsenal denied Spurs a consolation.
They don’t make any Paul McGraths anymore!
David Luiz doesn’t look like the first cousin of a defender…
It’s not that defenders are overated, I’d say the likes of Kompany Thiago Silva and Lahm are rather underrated. People prefer to see ball playing centre backs but then hang these players out to dry when there’s defensive problems. There is definitely a shift in how they play but if you teach a dog to chase a ball will he be able to climb a tree? If you teach a defender to be skillful and use the ball efficiently can you expect him to put in tough tackles and be a defensive mind player? The game would do well to remember its roots and try and amend the lack of ‘no-nonsense’ defenders
The best defensively set up team out there has to be Atletico Madrid. Simeone has organisation drilled into every player who starts, particularly in the back line. Can anyone name a better defender at defending than Diego Godin?
Great article.
I’ll hand it to Paul, this was a good article.
Cannavaro had it all. He was irrational at times, but by god, he was brilliant.
On the one hand – the hard men at centre back was a great facet to the game.
On the other hand – Feck it, more goals per game.
I just wonder if the ever-decreasing tolerance for physicality in the game has simply lead to these types not being considered by scouts and coaches, in lieu of ball-players that’ll make defenders.
Good article, the all-nonsense David Luiz made me laugh.
I always loved Alessandro Nesta. A God of a defender!
Best article I’ve read here in a while…..Bravo!
Brilliant insight, had never thought of the Brazil/arsenal comparison.
I started reading this. I’m not long out if bed and a bit tired. Then I scrolled down and there was alot to read. So I stopped.