Arsenal condemned a broken Leicester to a bottom-place finish in the WSL and kept the pressure on Manchester City at the top with a dominant win. Two goals each from Sweden’s Smilla Holmberg and Stina Blackstenius and one apiece from Frida Maanum, Mariona Caldentey and Leah Williamson, helped Arsenal reduce their goal-difference deficit with the league leaders from 13 to six.
“I’m so happy,” said the Arsenal head coach, Renée Slegers. “We wanted to win today, we needed to win today, so we did that … What’s most pleasing to see is that we play the Arsenal way and that doesn’t change regardless of who’s on the pitch. Everyone’s contributing.”
The Gunners had three games in hand going into the match and with City having lost against Brighton on Saturday, the door opened a crack for Arsenal. City need to win their final two games or win one and draw one while maintaining their superior goal difference to lift their first league title in 10 years.
Slegers made five changes to the team who earned an impressive 2-1 win over Lyonnes in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Sunday, leaning on her squad to produce a result and ensure legs were rested.
Injury-hit Leicester made three changes to the side who suffered a 5-1 defeat by London City Lionesses. It was always going to be a near-impossible task to escape a 12th-place finish, particularly with Chelsea up next on Sunday, and they predictably struggled against a team who have a 100% win rate against them.
The small silver lining to finishing bottom before the league’s expansion to 14 teams is that they still have a chance of staying up via a playoff against the team who finish third in WSL2.
“It’s going to be very tough,” said the Leicester head coach, Rick Passmore, on how he picks up his side. “When you look at the second half of the season, a lot of times in those games we were in the games and were competing, but over a period of time [the results] can knock your confidence because you know you’ve just been so close. What’s happened in the last couple of games is confidence and momentum is against us.”
It was efficient and clinical from the home team and you could not help but feel for Leicester as goal after goal went in. Arsenal had no room to ease off though, they needed to keep pressing for goals and they did so with a cold determination that at times felt cruel. That the visiting team held them at bay for 25 minutes will provide little solace, but in the context of the following 65 minutes it was a fairly impressive feat.
“You’ve got to have a balanced view because your credibility in the dressing room will go if you just show positives after a 7-0 defeat,” said Passmore. “You’ve got to be accountable, and that’s myself, because it’s me that’s accountable for this group, these players and the staff. We’re in it together, we understand that.”
Maanum broke the deadlock, the Norwegian midfielder sending in a looping header, and then Arsenal were rampant, with Holmberg’s first goal for the club coming two minutes later. The third and fourth arrived shortly before the break from Blackstenius, heading in from Maanum’s clipped pass for the first and turning into the empty net from close range for her second.
Leicester visibly sagged after the fourth, the players looking utterly deflated. Their goalkeeper, Olivia Clark, was involved in a clash of heads and was subbed off for Katie Keane for the second half but there was no respite after the break with Williamson, Caldentey, Alessia Russo and Caitlin Foord all coming on as substitutes in the space of seven minutes for the home team.
“It was about sharing the load between players because games are coming thick and fast,” said Slegers. “Getting minutes is really important because drops and loads aren’t good either.”
Holmberg scored her second three minutes after the restart, Caldentey scored the sixth, and a rocket of a header from a corner from Williamson produced the seventh.
Arsenal could have had more, but Keane made a couple of good saves to maintain the seven-goal deficit. Up the other end substitute Noémie Mouchon almost pulled one back when she fired narrowly wide of the far post from the right with eight minutes remaining.
Leicester have to somehow pick themselves up, get through another probable bruising encounter with Chelsea and aim to take something against Everton to lift spirits before the critical playoff game.
“It’s about confidence, about belief and working with this group, not only on the pitch but off the pitch, to ensure that that is covered over the forthcoming weeks leading into the playoff game,” said Passmore.
Meanwhile, Arsenal march on, their Champions League semi-final second leg up next, and they are relishing the hefty schedule. “We love it and we are ready for it,” said Slegers.
