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Brighton & Hove Albion Women face Arsenal Women in the WSL at the Emirates Stadium |
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The Seagulls are in North London to play the Gunners. Last time we were here, we got a bit battered. Since then, we have beaten them at Crawley. That was just before they beat Barcelona in Lisbon to be crowned Champions of Europe again. They are on a poor run of form at the moment so we catch them at a good time. They lost to Lyon in the week and haven’t won since the opening day of the WSL. The Albion are sporting their new away kit which is a light purple/mauve. It looks nicer when you see it on the pitch than it does in the shop. Our 2 Arsenal loanees, Michelle and Rosa, are not eligible for the squad today. Starting up front are Carla in the 9 and Fran in the 10. WIde of them are Kiko on the right and Rachel on the left. Behind them are Captain Maisie and Jelena. The defence comprises Caitlin and Charlize in the middle with Marissa and Maelys as full backs. That looks like a conventional back 4. The Gunners lineup is formidable with Russo, Smith, Manuum and Foord up front. Leah is still injured after the Euros so Katie Reid is in the central defence with Catley. The bench is even more frightening 😱. We're hoping the sun is going to come out at some point to shine on the 369 of us in the away end. It took 2 coaches to get us all here. One for the ‘Atmosphere’ section and the other for the ‘Grumpy Old Farts’ section. There is some dodgy 70’s/80’s football songs then North London Forever. The Albions take the knee and we’re off. Let’s go Brighton, let’s go.
The teams are feeling each other out for the first minutes. Both making mistakes in possession. First chance goes to Olivia Smith from a cleverly worked corner but with Kiko closing, she blasts it just over. They come even closer as Chiamaka has to scoop a Katie McCabe cross out from under the crossbar. It’s recycled and she saves again from Foord. Brighton attack for a spell but can’t get a chance. Russo plays in Smith but she buries it deep into the side netting. Brighton lose it in the middle of the pitch. Arsenal break and Smith's early cross is accidentally deflected by Marissa past, a wrong footed, Chiamaka into the net. Arse. 1-0. The Gunners are owning the left wing and Mpome is often outnumbered 2 or 3 to 1. She is playing really well but needs more support. Arsenal are dominating but are too pedestrian to threaten the Albion defence too much. Some great build up by Maisie and Kiko gives Fran a great chance from the corner of the 6 yard box. She tries to chip DvD who makes an easy catch. It would have been nice to see her smash that. Some patient build up on the left and Jelena lobs a cross into the box. Kiko tries to bundle it in but collides with DvD and McCabe. Brighton are getting good possession at times but Arsenal are a little better on the ball. Foord beats Mpome to get in a good cross but there is no-one at the far post. Super Fran is having great game. Come on Fran, give us a goal. Brighton defending well from the front. It’s working as Arsenal have not had much of a chance since the lucky goal. Which wasn’t a chance at all. The outnumbered Seagulls are making more noise than the Gooners. Fran plays in Kiko but DvD makes a good save at the near post. It leads to a corner which goes just over DvD and threatens to go in but is cleared. Kiko picks up a ball in the midfield and runs at goal. She has Rachel to her left but chooses the long shot. DvD makes a good save, spills the ball and recovers it. It’s the last kick of the half. Fairly even apart from the small matter of the goal.
Brighton need to start with calm heads to not let Arsenal build any momentum. They get a flurry of corners but the Seagulls are defending very well. It’s time for an Albion corner but it goes straight into the side netting!! What a waste. Arsenal have the ball but it’s moving without energy. It’s McCabe that finally gets a shot on target but it’s an easy catch for Nnadozie. Fran plays a great pass down the wing for Kiko, she dummies it and McCabe flattens her without getting near the ball. Then claims Kiko dived. Well you would know about that! Carla forces a good save from DvD after a throw in. A Katie McCabe corner forces a great save from Nnadozie and a great goal line block from Maelys. Brighton’s high press leads to a great cross from Kiko, it finds Carla and DvD is forced into a great save to keep it out of the net. Russo is played through, Nnadozie comes flying out of her box to smash it into touch and flatten Alessia at the same time. It looks a clear foul on Russo but fortunately it's ignored by the ref. The play is right in front of us as Foord cross hits Maelys in the face at close range on 62. She drops like a stone and looks to be unconscious initially. An increasing number of medical staff come onto the pitch to help her out. Arsenal use the stoppage to make their changes. It's Frida, Olivia and Mariona going off. On come Beffy, Stina and Kira. There are a huge number of medical staff on the pitch still and Maelys is stretched off 10 minutes after the incident to great applause round the ground. Marit Auee comes on in her place. Arsenal have impatiently waited 10 minutes to take their corner but it comes to nothing. It’s a bit end to end for a while without any chances. Maisie is injured and is replaced by Nadine. Arsenal get another corner as Stina is causing problems for the backline. It’s a curly one from McCabe and Stina glances it off the top of the bar. Phew! The Gunners get a free kick on 85 as Jelena is penalised for having Beffy Mead run into her following Nnadozie’s headed clearance. Our new keeper seems to be a little bit adventurous. Stina misses the resulting chance again. Kiko charges past McCabe only to get tripped by Beffy. DvD gets a hand on the free kick and the second phase shot goes wide. It is only the 2nd offside as Mead is caught out on 88. Caitlin Foord is replaced by Chloe Kelly and the Euros hero comes on the big cheers. The Brighton backline holds strong and forces Russo to shoot wide. There are to be 13 added minutes 😲. Certainly enough time to equalize. Kiko and Beth are still not getting on. An Arsenal corner is quickly cleared. Kelly gets a chance but it’s a cross and ends up with Nnadozie. Brighton have a good spell of possession that ends in a Kiko cross that's claimed by DvD. It’s Arsenal’s turn for a good spell with the ball. Stina gets a chance as she runs onto a through ball from Little. How she misses the goal we will never know but she somehow drags it wide. Kiko is replaced by Tahira Heron. Arsenal keep the ball but the Brighton defence holds firm. Chloe Kelly gets the first booking on 90+12 for a body check on Charlize. DvD punches the free kick clear then lands on Caitlin who takes a while to get up. There is just time for one last heart attack moment. Little sets Stina away, Nnadozie comes miles out of her box and then misses Stina and the ball. The defence somehow manage to mop up the resulting mess. Arsenal take the resulting corner very short to run the clock down and the whistle goes on 90+13. A tight game and an unlucky loss for the Seagulls who can be both pleased with the performance and disappointed with the result.
Firstly, the news that Maelys is OK. She has a concussion but is up and about. That was a really even game despite the Seagulls losing it. The difference was a lucky deflected goal and the visitors had more good chances on goal. Arsenal wouldn’t have had much to moan about had they drawn or lost it. It says a lot when you play the Champions of Europe and their goal keeper is POTM. The Seagulls should be very proud of their performance. So different to this fixture last season. We have as good as we got if not better today. The Albion were certainly the better side for the last 20 when we least expected it as the Gunners game changers had come on. And they had a full squad to pick from (Leah excepted and she is a huge miss) where the Albion were short of 2 of their key strikers as they are not allowed to play their parent club. The sun coming through the gap in the Clock End was a lovely way to end the day. We were probably happier to see the 13 minutes added than our hosts as we never felt that we couldn’t get back into it. It was worrying to see Bex on crutches at the end but she was on the pitch with the squad so it can’t be that bad.
POTM: Goes to Super Fran for being involved in everything good that happened. A special mention to Nnadozie whose great keeping kept the game in reach even if it was a little unconventional at times.
The officials, well Kirsty, were as you would expect when playing the Champions of Europe. They were not quite untouchable but always got the benefit of the doubt.
The Scran’O’meter loved the Felafel wrap from WonderDoner 8/10. We didn’t try to take any drinks in. Bottles of water were sold with lids intact. But soft drinks were sold in re-usable cups. Doughnuts were yummy as well as the Gunners Gummy sweets. We heard a rumour about pick’n’mix but couldn’t track any down.
Love Tranmerekat 🐾
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| In early at the Emirates |
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| Filled up now |
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| Sally's first visit |
