Slegers on big win and Vic’s comeback

Renee Slegers had plenty to be pleased about on a record-breaking evening at Emirates Stadium.

We ran out 4-0 winners over Liverpool, to strengthen our grip on second-place in the table, and move within five points of leaders Chelsea. 

In the process we became the first team in WSL history to score at least four times in six consecutive home matches, and there was more reason to cheer in the second-half, when Victoria Pelova made her long-awaited return from long-term injury. 

“She's been training with the group for a while now,” the manager said. “She's worked so hard. It's a lonely place sometimes when you're away from the team for so long. But she's worked so hard. She's had the right support as well from the medical and performance team. Teammates have been supporting her as well, so we just had to find the right moment for her to make her comeback. 

“The players on the pitch set the team up so well. It's 3-0 at half-time, so this was the moment. I'm so happy for Vic. She can do it at the Emirates with so many fans seeing it as well, so that was great.”

Vic’s comeback was one of the many highlights of an enjoyable evening in north London, as we gained a measure of revenge for our FA Cup defeat at the hands of Liverpool two weeks ago.  

“I'm very happy with it,” Renee said. “I think we started really well, so we set ourselves up really well. I think we dictated the tempo in the game today. Last game we played against Liverpool, they dictated the tempo of the game. That was going to be key for us today, so I think we did that really well.

“It's always important for us to start well. I think that's been a key area that we've been talking about ahead of this game. I'm really happy that we could actually transfer that to the game.”

Our manager was also delighted with the record-breaking home form, as we netted at least four goals once again. 

“That's great,” she smiled “I think we pride ourselves on clean sheets, so that's very important for us as well. So I'm happy with that. We try to have variety in our attacks and use set-pieces as a weapon as well. So we try to be unpredictable in front of goal. I'm very happy with the variety of attacks, the variety of goals we score.”

It means the team go into the second leg of our Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on a high, as we look to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. Renee had a message for our supporters ahead of that huge game on Wednesday: “Thanks for today, thanks for everything as always, through hard and good times. 

“We have to deliver and we need to do what we need to do regardless. But we also know and feel that together with the fans this place can be very special.”