Arsenal sent an emphatic warning to leaders Manchester City that the Women’s Super League title race is far from over with a thumping 7-0 win over bottom-side Leicester at the Emirates Stadium.
Stina Blackstenius and Smilla Holmberg scored two each, while Mariona Caldentey and Leah Williamson also got in on the act after Frida Maanum headed the opener on her 100th WSL appearance.
The Gunners climb above Man Utd into third, two points behind second-placed Chelsea and eight behind City. They do, however, still have two games in hand and four left to play overall.
The next comes at Brighton on Wednesday May 6 at 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports Football.
Wednesday 6th May 7:35pm
Kick off 7:45pm
A 15th defeat of the season means Leicester will finish the season bottom of the WSL. As a result, they will face the team who finishes third in the WSL 2 – either Charlton, Birmingham or Crystal Palace – in a promotion/relegation play-off, with their top-flight status on the line.
Seventh heaven for the Gunners
Whether it was a direct result of Arsenal boss Renee Slegers resting players, including Williamson and Alessia Russo, ahead of the weekend’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Lyon, it took a while for the game to warm up in north London.
The Gunners were dominating, but it took 25 minutes for them to begin to seize control. And after they did, they did not take their foot off the gas.
Arsenal’s Smilla Holmberg celebrates scoring the fifth goal against Leicester
On her milestone evening, Maanum played a key role in the first three goals. Having opened the scoring herself, she teed up Holmberg to score her first goal since a January move from Hammarby just over two minutes later.
Emily Fox then rattled the crossbar as the hosts went for the jugular, but it was 3-0 with 41 minutes gone, when Maanum chipped the ball into Blackstenius, who converted with a deft touch. Deep into first-half stoppage time, she added another, helping Victoria Pelova’s pass into an empty net.
That was Arsenal’s 100th goal of the Slegers era, and they made it 101 just two minutes after the restart when Holmberg tapped in after being picked out by Olivia Smith.
Mariona Caldentey (left) celebrates scoring the sixth goal
Williamson also got in on the act when she powered in at the near post and, when that hit the net, it seemed the record for the biggest win in WSL history – Arsenal’s 11-1 victory over Bristol City in December 2019 – would be under serious threat with almost half an hour of the 90 minutes still to play.
But the Gunners could afford to ease up and settle for their joint-third biggest win in the competition.
Watch the first five goals…
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Frida Maanum made it 1-0 to Arsenal
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Holmberg puts Arsenal 2-0 up
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Blackstenius scored Arsenal’s third goal
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It’s 4-0 as Blackstenius strikes again
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Holmberg adds her second for 5-0
Slegers: I don’t know if we can catch Man City yet
Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers speaking to Sky Sports:
“It’s the Arsenal way you saw today. With these short turnarounds and being active in different competitions, it’s really important to be in the here and now and focused on the task, and we were.
“We did so many things so well in the game, so really happy with how we stayed disciplined throughout with different players playing in different positions. It was a really good team performance. I’m really happy with the clean sheet.
“I’ve said it so many times, but the readiness of the players is so good and we trust every single player to play. We know they can play different roles for the team as well. Everyone knows the role they can play and everyone is bringing their strengths.
“There are such high levels of communication and trust within the team on the pitch and off the pitch. But we have nothing yet, so we have to keep on pushing.
“I don’t know [if we can catch Man City]. We go step by step. Today was one game and we did what we needed to do. That’s really good, but we have to recover straight after and, in three days, we have the next game coming up against Lyon.”
Passmoor: Everyone has to be united ahead of play-off
Leicester manager Rick Passmoor speaking to Sky Sports:
“Disappointing performance, disappointing result. We know we are in the play-off game so our focus now is these next two games to put us in a position ready for the play-off game.
“As we know, WSL 2 is full of talent, very organised and very well coached. We have to accept it and be responsible for our preparations across the board.
“It’s all to do with confidence. Also in terms of morale, being together. There’s a lot of deflated bodies out there now. We’ve got to look at that side and our mentality. Up until the first goal, we defended well and played well. We looked after the ball really well at times. We’ve got to make sure that when the tide turns, we are staying in the games.
“It’s going to be a challenge. Everyone has got to be united. We have to bring our specialist areas into the training ground every day to make sure the girls are ready for the play-off game. We’ve got to remain together in the trenches. It might just take one scruffy goal to change the mindset of the group.
“We control the controllable. The play-off is a one off.”
