Jonas Eidevall describes Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Everton as ‘a progression that I am really happy with’

Arsenal came away with a 2-1 victory against Everton on Saturday afternoon at Meadow Park after a hard-fought contest. Both netting their first goals of the campaign, Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead proved to be the difference for the Gunners, as the North London side saw themselves shoot into second spot on the league table.

After what started as a dominant display from Arsenal, the fixture’s closing moments began to play witness to an increasingly disorganised Gunners side. Eidevall reflected on what he made of his side’s performance in a post match interview with the media.

‘The first 70 minutes, I was really happy with our performance, I think the only thing missing for us is to have a bigger margin in the goal difference. If they would have scored, I think we would have been kicking ourselves over how we played for the last 15 minutes.’

‘Because I think we thought way too much about the scoreline, and less about what way of football we want to play. We lose that bravery, and we lose that collective understanding of how we want to act in situations, so it’s really a game in two different episodes.’

Despite having an impressive opening to league proceedings in their 2023/24 campaign thus far, Arsenal have found themselves in countless situations where they are unable to convert on the scoresheet. Eidevall reflected on the slim scoreline in this afternoon’s clash, whilst also praising his side for their ability to create goal-scoring opportunities.

‘If I look at it from a progress side, I think we created a lot of high quality chances today. We hit the target quite often on to those chances, and that has been a problem before, that we miss targets, so now we force the goalkeeper to make saves. Of course we need to convert better, but if I see the progression – that progression I am really happy with.’

Emily Fox made her debut appearance in the Barclays Women’s Super League during today’s clash with Everton, and the Arsenal boss spoke in high praise of the American defender after the match.

‘You can see her already now building relationships with some key players for her on the pitch, and getting a good understanding of her role in the team. I don’t think she looks like a player that played her first WSL game, which I think is a credit to both her, but also to a lot of other people working hard behind the scenes.’

Vivianne Miedema made her first league return to the starting lineup since what has been an extended recovery process after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in December 2022. When asked what he thought of Miedema’s performance, Eidevall responded with the upmost amount of praise for the Dutch striker.

‘Anyone who is following us, who is seeing us, they are seeing a Vivianne Miedema who is progressing, that is getting better and better. That’s of course really pleasing to see, I thought she had a really good game today for us, both on the ball and off the ball. I think the spaces she finds when we play out of their pressure is really good, and it’s really helpful for us to build some really strong attacks.’

The Barclays Women’s Super League is back in action tomorrow at 12:30pm, as Chelsea host Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. For both Arsenal and Everton, they’ll return to Conti Cup action on Wednesday with trips to Reading and Leicester City respectively.