Arsenal's run of four games without a win came to an end on Sunday, albeit only thanks to an own goal from Brighton's Marisa Olislagers in a narrow 1-0 victory. The Gunners will be relieved to have avoided extending their barren streak to what would've been their worst in 11 years but the same sluggishness in attack persisted, with Daphne van Domselaar's terrific second half save to deny Carla Camacho proving to be particularly important come the final whistle.
Van Domselaar has been struggling with her own individual form, too, with a high-profile mistake in the Champions League loss to Lyon in midweek highlighting as much. For the Dutchwoman to bounce back with a strong display here, then, will have been one of the most encouraging aspects of the entire afternoon for those of an Arsenal persuasion.
At the start of the game, there looked like there would be more positives, too. The Gunners started well, with Olivia Smith and Caitlin Foord causing plenty of problems in the wide areas before the two then linked up in the build-up to the only goal, which saw Smith's cross deflect off Olislagers and into the back of the net after 15 minutes. However, neither winger was particularly accurate with their final ball, while the overall slow pace of the Arsenal play failed to stretch a well-organised Brighton defence.
Instead, it was the Seagulls who had the better chances, as Kiko Seike and Fran Kirby tested Van Domselaar in the first half and Camacho started to find her range in the second, only for the goalkeeper to produce an outstanding reflex save on the hour mark to deny the young Spaniard what looked a certain goal. Stoppages in play for injuries not long after that halted Brighton's momentum, though, while Arsenal's introduction of Stina Blackstenius helped give the hosts more threat, with the Swede unlucky not to make the end of the game more comfortable for her team when her header struck the bar late on.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from the Emirates Stadium…
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Daphne van Domselaar (7/10):
Made a terrific save to deny Camacho an equaliser on the hour and positioned herself well to make her other stops very comfortable, too. A confidence-boosting performance for the goalkeeper, whose recent form has been shaky.
Emily Fox (6/10):
A solid display in which she did little wrong defensively, though couldn't make too much impact going forward.
Katie Reid (6/10):
A little sloppier on the ball today than she has been throughout her strong start to the season. Outstanding in her duels, however.
Steph Catley (6/10):
Was generally tidy in possession and relatively untroubled off the ball.
Katie McCabe (6/10):
Had some real problems dealing with Seike in the first half but fared better after the break.
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Kim Little (6/10):
Kept the ball tidily at the base of midfield, though didn't do much to speed up the play going forward.
Mariona Caldentey (6/10):
Moved the ball well and was often central to Arsenal's best moves. Like Little, though, she could and should've done more to move the Brighton back line around.
Frida Maanum (5/10):
Had an effort cleared off the line from a corner but otherwise struggled to really make her mark against a well-organised Brighton defence.
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Olivia Smith (6/10):
Caused plenty of problems, with it her cross that produced the opening goal, but did lack efficiency with her end product overall.
Alessia Russo (5/10):
Worked hard off the ball but got so little service, with crosses just not finding her.
Caitlin Foord (6/10):
Arsenal's liveliest performer throughout the afternoon, though her final ball should have been better on numerous occasions.
Subs & Manager
Kyra Cooney-Cross (6/10):
Made a positive impact in midfield with some driving runs and quality passing.
Stina Blackstenius (6/10):
Caused Brighton problems with her clever movement and was very unlucky not to add to Arsenal's lead when her header from McCabe's corner hit the bar.
Beth Mead (5/10):
Worked hard off the ball, though couldn't make a huge impact on it.
Chloe Kelly (N/A):
A late sub as Arsenal saw the game out.
Renee Slegers (6/10):
A win is a win but there wasn't much in this Arsenal performance to suggest their recent bad run is totally behind them. The Gunners started well but appeared content with the slender lead, doing little to add to it. That did improve a little with Slegers' subs, which were a little different to her usual changes, which was a positive.
