Debut wondergoal as Arsenal women beat Brighton
Arsenal Women began their FA WSL campaign with a 1-0 victory away to Brighton, as teenage summer signing Lisa Baum marked her competitive debut with a superb individual goal that proved enough to secure all three points.
The new season had opened on Friday night with London City Lionesses beating Manchester United 2-1, before Chelsea dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday. With Renee Slegers having already told Arsenal.com that her side are targeting the title, Arsenal had an early opportunity to make their intentions clear.
It was also their first opening WSL fixture away from home since 2015, according to Sky Sports, and Slegers made extensive use of Arsenal’s summer signings.
Misa Rodriguez started in goal, Onya Batlle was included in defence, Georgia Stanway made her debut in midfield following her arrival from Bayern Munich (an was awarded Player of the Match), and Baum started in attack.
Olivia Smith and Emily Fox also came into the side in place of Smila Holmberg and Stina Blackstenius, who had started the pre-season victory over Charlton Athletic.
Alessia Russo led the line, with Kim Little captaining the side.
Before kick-off, Slegers spoke about integrating so many new faces into the squad.
“Yeah, so a lot of change in the squads and if I look at how the group has come together in such a short period of time – I think we spent 6-7 weeks together – [it] looks really good, so I’m really happy with the with the new players also really happy with the players that have been here for longer. I think the mix that we’ve created [is good],” she said.
“We lost one game last season in the league and we had six draws, we have to find ways [to win] so whatever the opposition, whatever the ground, whatever the circumstance we have to find ways and we’ve been working really hard in pre-season and we’ve been investing a lot, so we’re happy that we can take the first step today.”
Brighton handed former Arsenal favourite Lia Walti a start following her summer move from Juventus, and they created the first clear chance after five minutes. A long ball released Kiko Seike, forcing Rodriguez into an excellent save despite Arsenal having controlled possession.
Four minutes later, Baum announced herself.
Lisa Baum, debut goal for Arsenal WFC 💥 🔴⚪
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The 19-year-old, signed for a German-record transfer fee of €600,000, collected possession in midfield and drove forward, jinking past defenders before smashing her finish high into the near corner.
It was an outstanding way to score her first Arsenal goal and gave the visitors a ninth-minute lead.
Arsenal should have doubled it three minutes later. Smith chased down a ball on the flank, robbed the full-back and picked out Russo unmarked around 10 yards from goal, but the striker leaned back and fired well over.
But the pattern had already been established. Arsenal had more than 70 per cent possession after 15 minutes and Brighton were struggling to keep the ball, though they looked dangerous when they did.
Russo had another opportunity to double Arsenal’s lead shortly before the half-hour when Stanway played her through the middle, only for Brighton goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to race from her line and save with her leg near the edge of the area.
Arsenal went into half-time deservedly ahead and with enough openings to feel the margin could have been greater.
Brighton threatened again early in the second half and Rodriguez was required once more, while Leah Williamson received the first booking after going shoulder to shoulder with an opponent.
The Brighton player went down without an obvious push or shove, but referee Kirsty Dowle quickly showed Williamson a yellow card.
Baum remained Arsenal’s most dangerous player. She repeatedly caused problems for the Brighton defence and somehow worked the ball across the face of goal on one occasion, although nobody in red was close enough to finish from a couple of yards.
Her debut ended shortly after the hour, having scored, registered two shots on target from two attempts, made four recoveries and recorded more touches in the opposition penalty area than any other player. Chloe Kelly replaced her, while Caitlin Foord came on for Smith.
Seike continued to provide Brighton’s principal threat and forced another good stop from Rodriguez, who then dealt firmly with the resulting corner.
Slegers later introduced Blackstenius for Mariona Caldentey, and the Swedish forward nearly made the game safe with fewer than 10 minutes remaining, forcing Nnadozie into another strong save.
Arsenal were not always comfortable defensively, with Brighton finding opportunities on the break, but they had more than enough chances themselves to have settled the contest earlier.
Dowle’s approach also gave Arsenal cause for frustration. Smith was repeatedly subjected to physical challenges without receiving much protection, while Fox was kicked when down without punishment.
Dowle was also the referee who disallowed Blackstenius’s goal against Chelsea for a handball that did not happen, and in 16 Brighton matches going back to 2018 has never awarded a penalty.
Ultimately, however, Arsenal did what title challengers have to do. They took the lead and held onto it.
There is work to do defensively and greater ruthlessness will be required, but an opening-day away victory, a clean sheet and a debut goal of exceptional quality from Baum represents a very good start to the season.
