With this Conti Cup quarterfinal postponed after London City Lionesses’ Princes Park was left waterlogged following heavy rainfall last week, Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners would travel to Dartford on the back of elimination from the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
LCL: Moloney; Fitzgerald, Mukandi, Culver, Brougham; Boye-Hlorkah, Groves, Joel, Scofield; Douglas, Carter
ARS: Zinsberger; Catley, Codina, Wubben-Moy, McCabe; Little, Wälti; Foord, Pelova, Lacasse; Blackstenius
A waterlogged pitch was not to be the last of the drama at London City Lionesses last Wednesday, when this match was originally scheduled to take place. Sitting dangerously close to relegation from the second tier of women’s football in England, the club opted to part company with head coach Carolina Morace – leaving goalkeeping coach Darren Smith to take the reins.
But when this game finally got underway, albeit a week late, Arsenal found themselves frustrated for prolonged periods of the first half by a resilient London City Lionesses defence. Caitlin Foord twice came close to opening the scoring, but it was ultimately a lucky deflected header Cloé Lacasse that put the Gunners ahead after 39 minutes in Dartford.
Embed from Getty ImagesJonas Eidevall’s side doubled their lead before the interval, after Stina Blackstenius was fouled inside the penalty area by Grace Moloney, who was chasing a poorly placed pass from ex-Arsenal defender Emma Mukandi. Kim Little tucked away neatly from twelve yards out to put the Gunners in clear control.
With a decisive Barclays Women’s Super League tie ahead of them on Saturday, the Gunners were in no mood to exert any more energy than was required – but still, testament to their quality, the goals continued to flood in.
Lacasse doubled her personal tally for the evening as she buried a curling effort past Moloney after latching onto a loose ball, before Alessia Russo added the fourth and final goal with a headed effort just minutes after her introduction from the bench.
Embed from Getty ImagesA comprehensive victory in Dartford sees Arsenal through to the semifinals of the Conti Cup, and Jonas Eidevall’s side will have to see off Aston Villa on March 6 if they’re to progress to the Molineux final on March 31.
First though, they will look to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester City in the Barclays Women’s Super League by recording a victory against the Red Devils in front of a sell-out crowd at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
