We recorded our first victory in the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage on Wednesday night at Emirates Stadium.
Goals from Emily Fox, Caitlin Foord, Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo were enough to see off Norwegian champions Valerenga and bring us back to winning ways.
WHAT HAPPENED
In her first game in charge, interim head coach Renee Slegers made just one change to the team that lined up against Chelsea at the weekend. Laia Codina came in for Lotte Wubben-Moy as the latter missed the game through concussion protocol.
Emily Fox gave us a dream start to the fixture after just 70 seconds, scoring her very Arsenal goal with a close-range tap-in.
Abuzz with confidence after the early goal and looking to take advantage of the momentum, our Gunners tested the visitors via a variety of avenues.
It was the Norwegian side, however, with the next big chance of the game. Valerenga captain, Janni Thomsen, tried her luck from distance, forcing a good low stop from van Domselaar,
We continued to pile on the pressure with a series of set pieces. In one instance, Leah Williamson hit the post from a corner and as our squad lined up to take shots at the Valerenga goal, keeper Tove Enblom was equal to them all.
It would be through our top scorer, Caitlin Foord, that we would eventually double our advantage. A marauding run through the midfield from Mariona set up Beth Mead with a shot. That attempt was blocked but luckily our Aussie was there to sweep the ball into the roof of the net.
Five minutes later, we were guilty of a lapse in concentration that allowed Valerenga to get a goal back. The Norwegian's side's high press finally bore fruit and Olaug Tvedten managed to beat the outstretched leg of Codina and the outstretched glove of van Domselaar to hit the target.
We came out with composure in the second half, looking to build on our early dominance. Russo came close to increasing our lead with a collection of powerful shots that Enblom managed to parry away.
With the game still on a knife edge as we crept past the hour mark, Karina Saevik continued to trouble Codina and Williamson with her physicality and pace on the counter. Fortunately for us, that work up front did not translate to a shot on target.
With a commanding performance in the middle of the park, Mariona Caldentey got the goal to give us daylight in the 85th minute. A beautifully threaded ball from Russo found Frida Maanum storming towards the goal. Fellow substitute Stina Blackstenius found Mariona with a quick pass and our Spaniard rifled the ball home.
As the game headed towards its conclusion, Slegers made two late yet meaningful substitutes: Lina Hurtig returned to the pitch for the first time since November 2023 and 18-year-old centre-back Katie Reid made her Emirates Stadium and Champions League debut.
Alessia Russo finally got her goal in stoppage time to make it 4-1. Mariona was there once again, feeding Russo with a trivela pass and our number 23 slotted the ball through the keeper's leg to complete the victory.
what it means
Tonight's victory moves us into second place in Group C, behind Bayern Munich. Our next UWCL test is away to Juventus on November 12.
Now our focus turns to our last league match before the October international break. Our Gunners head to Dagenham on Sunday afternoon to face West Ham (KO: 3pm UK)
team news
Arsenal starting XI: Van Domselaar, Fox, Codina (Reid, 90), Williamson, Mariona, Mead (Maanum, 61) Little (C), McCabe (Catley, 61), Walti (Hurtig, 90), Foord (Blackstenius, 78) Russo
Unused subs: Zinsberger, Williams, Cooney-Cross, Kuhl, Kafaji, Godfrey, Lia
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