Frida Maanum’s second-half strike was all that separated the two sides at King Power Stadium on Sunday, as Arsenal picked up their first win of the Barclays Women’s Super League season against a resilient Leicester City side.
Despite recording a comfortable 4-0 victory to qualify for the 2024/25 UEFA Women’s Champions League just days before their trip to Leicestershire, the Gunners were noticeably off-colour on the banks of the River Soar and were perhaps lucky to head back to the capital with three points.
As it happened
Arsenal struggled to take their chances throughout the first half at King Power Stadium against a well-organised defensive unit, despite dominating possession for much of the match. Beth Mead’s in-swinging cross from a short corner picked out Alessia Russo at the back post, although the forward could only volley into the side netting.
But the remainder of the first half would be defined by the goalkeepers’ excellence, as opposed to the blunders of the front lines. Daphne van Domselaar, chosen by Jonas Eidevall over Manuela Zinsberger for Sunday’s clash, produced a fine fingertip save to push Jutta Rantala’s thunderous effort from distance onto the crossbar.
Lize Kop was the next to pull an incredible save out of her locker, stretching to tip Lia Wälti’s strike from inside the box over the horizontal to ensure the match remained goalless at the interval.
That deadlock was soon broken by the visitors inside the first ten minutes of the second half, as Frida Maanum struck gold for the fourth time in five games. A well-placed aerial ball from Russo fell perfectly for the Norwegian, who merely had to slot past Kop to send a wave of relief crashing through the 1,600-strong away contingent.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt wouldn’t be smooth sailing for the Gunners though, for as the clock wore down in Leicestershire, Amandine Miquel’s looked to apply late pressure in a desperate bid to steal a point. Deanne Rose would be left kicking herself after wasting a golden opportunity in the dying minutes, opting to go the distance herself after storming down the flanks but ultimately being denied by Arsenal’s Dutch showstopper.
Sunday’s hosts now turn their attention to midweek Women’s League Cup action, which sees them host Bristol City before returning to league action against newly-promoted Crystal Palace next Sunday. Arsenal have a clear week before facing an injury-plagued Everton side next weekend, with a trip to Bayern Munich following shortly after that.
The lineups
LEI: Kop; Cayman, Thibaud, Howard, Bott; Momiki, Mace, Tierney; Goodwin, Mouchon, Rantala
ARS: van Domselaar; McCabe, Codina, Wubben-Moy, Fox; Foord, Wälti, Cooney-Cross, Mead; Russo, Maanum
