WSL: History-making Brighton on hunt for record finish soar past Arsenal | OneFootball

Brighton and Hove Albion ran out 4-2 winners over Arsenal to stay fifth in the Women’s Super League table heading into the final weekend.

Brighton dealt a blow to Arsenal at the Broadfield Stadium on Monday afternoon, securing their first ever league victory over the Champions League finalists in style as the penultimate weekend of the WSL season drew to a dramatic close.

Renée Slegers approached the fixture with a full-strength selection, opting for six changes following Wednesday’s 5-2 defeat away at Aston Villa. Ahead of kick off, Dario Vidošić’s side announced that five players are set to depart the club. Namely, Poppy Pattinson, Guro Bergsvand, Maria Thorisdottir, Dejana Stefanovic, and Pauline Bremer are will take their leave from the Seagulls.

Starting XIs

Brighton and Hove Albion

Baggaley; Thorisdottir, Bergsvand, Parris, Cankovic, Seike, Hayes, Kirby, Symonds, Olislagers, Auee

Arsenal

Zinsberger; Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona, Mead, Little, McCabe, Maanum, Foord, Russo

First half drama between Brighton and Arsenal

Campaigning for their highest ever finish in the WSL should they stay ahead of Liverpool on points come Saturday, fifth-place Brighton were hungry for three points in front of their vocal home support. Their press was well-organised, as they looked to capitalise on a clumsy Gunners backline.

Fran Kirby opened the scoring for the hosts in the 16th minute, firing a world-class finish into the top right corner and far beyond the reach of Manuela Zinsberger.

The equaliser for Arsenal arrived through Caitlin Foord, just over ten minutes later, after Sophie Baggaley saved her initial attempt and she slotted home the rebound.

Albion were back in front before half-time through another wonder goal, this time scored by Jelena Cankovic. A well-delivered corner was initially cleared by the Gunners’ defence, but Cancovic was on the edge of the box ready to pounce. And pounce she did, volleying from the edge of the box straight toward the back of Zinsberger’s net.

Embed from Getty Images

Second half Seagulls soar

Brighton commenced the second half in spectacular fashion, scoring two goals in just a couple of minutes to double their lead over Arsenal.

The first was provided by Cancovic from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute. Her left-footed superb strike flew past a stunned Zinsberger following some impressive buildup play from Brighton.

Kiko Seike then chipped the slightly shaken goalkeeper after picking up a great ball from behind, as Arsenal failed to deal with the Seagulls’ ‘attack from the back’ approach.

Mariona Caldentey scored what would only be a second consolation goal for Arsenal during injury time. Her curling effort made its way past Baggaley, who had an exceptional 90 minutes.

Embed from Getty Images

The dying moments of the clash were scrappy, as Arsenal finally came to life but had done far too little far too late to overturn the deficit.

The Gunners must now fight for second place against Manchester United at the Emirates next weekend, while Brighton are on the brink of celebrating their highest ever WSL finish, and an inaugural victory over Arsenal in the competition. An honourable mention must go to Baggaley, who made countless saves of the highest calibre for Albion, despite only coming into the lineup shortly before kick off after Melina Loeck withdrew.

Arsenal ‘lucky’ to have a second chance next weekend

After the defeat, Slegers praised Vidošić’s setup. The Arsenal head coach said: “They did well, normally when we perform to our level we can beat this. I’m not saying that to be arrogant but that is what we have been doing before. What I would say about Brighton is they did it with a lot of aggression, belief and they were fearless and they worked really hard in the duels and they made it hard for us. They slowed down the game, they used all the tools to get us out of the game and the quality of their finishing was extremely high today.”

Slegers then reflected upon a missed opportunity to avoid the dreaded Champions League qualifying process faced by the WSL’s third-place finisher.

“We were very aware of our position, and winning today would have secured second place — we spoke about it and it was a motivation and incentive we wanted to use. We weren’t successful today, it is tough lessons learned these last two games.

Slegers then admitted Arsenal were ‘lucky’ to have another shot at securing second place against Man United on Saturday.

Embed from Getty Images

Asked about the squad’s mentality with the WSL’s finale on the horizon, and their UWCL final against Barcelona just around the corner, Slegers admitted she wasn’t thinking about Europe just yet.

“I haven’t been watching Barcelona yet. The here and now and Brighton was the most important game, finding balance is important. It will always be there in the background but we have to focus on the here and now and that is what we try to achieve with the whole staff.”

Related articles from Her Football Hub: