Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 Arsenal: Čanković scores brace as Arsenal suffer second consecutive defeat | OneFootball

Arsenal struggled to come back from their shocking loss to Aston Villa in midweek, losing again to Brighton on Bank Holiday Monday.

A curling strike from Fran Kirby put Brighton ahead in the 16th minute, but Caitlin Foord’s shot just before the half-hour mark brought Arsenal level. Jelena Čanković, who assisted Kirby’s goal, scored an impressive goal of her own in the 43rd minute to reinstate Brighton’s advantage just before the break.

Brighton began the second half by scoring two goals in two minutes: another goal from Čanković in the 52nd and Kiko Seike’s first of the match in the 54th, solidifying their win. Mariona Caldentey pulled one back in the second minute of added time, but it was too little, too late as the Gunners succumbed to a second successive defeat since qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

As it happened

The game began with a brief but strong start from Brighton, which was followed by intense Arsenal pressure. But against the run of play, Caitlin Hayes dispossessed Beth Mead and sent the ball through to Čanković, who passed to Kirby. She sent a powerful right-footed strike into the top right corner of the goal, scoring Brighton’s first home goal against Arsenal in the WSL.

Arsenal were undeterred, and kept ramping up the pressure on Brighton, and in the 29th minute, this paid off. Build up play by Mead, Leah Williamson and Emily Fox allowed Caldentey to send a cross into the box which found Foord. Her first strike was saved by Sophie Baggaley, but the rebound – a right-footed shot down the centre of the goal – went in to bring Arsenal level.

The Gunners continued to press in an effort to go ahead for the first time this game, but their clearance of a Brighton corner fell to Čanković on the edge of the box. She sent a left-footed strike through the bodies in the box and into the back of the net in the 43rd minute, putting Brighton ahead again.

Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, Brighton cemented their victory, when a poor clearance by Arsenal keeper Manuela Zinsberger fell perfectly to Marit Auée. Auée looped the ball past the Arsenal defence for Čanković to send a right-footed strike over Zinsberger and into the net in the 52nd minute.

Just two minutes later, Marisa Olislagers sent a beautiful forward pass to Seike, who outpaced Katie McCabe to fire a right-footed strike past Zinsberger down the centre of the goal.

The rest of the second half saw no more goals until the second minute of added time, when Auée gave the ball away to Caldentey, who sent a right-footed strike into the top right corner of the net, lessening the deficit.

The momentum of the game was largely in Arsenal’s favour, but they lacked the composure when finishing. The few chances Brighton did have, they largely capitalised on, which resulted in their first ever win over Arsenal.

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