Arsenal open post-Eidevall era with shaky victory | OneFootball

Arsenal secured their first victory since Jonas Eidevall’s resignation with a stuttering 4-1 win over Norwegian side Valerenga at the Emirates.

In her debut as Arsenal’s interim coach, Renee Slegers named a strong lineup, making just one change from the squad which lost here to Chelsea earlier in the week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the themes of that match persisted as the Gunners failed to attack goal with the requisite venom, routinely thwarted by a low block defense and a standout performance from Valerenga goalkeeper Tove Enblom, who recently earned her first national callup for Sweden.

Valerenga came into the match on top form, at the tail end of their domestic season and within touching distance of the Toppserien title. Before heading to the Emirates, they had just one loss in their last 13 matches, though that defeat had come at the hands of Juventus in the Champions League. Their continental luck would get no better here.

It would take exactly 60 seconds for Arsenal to open the scoring. It was not be the prettiest goal of Emily Fox’s career as she bundled the ball home from inside the six-yard box, but it would be the first time Arsenal had led at the Emirates since late September.

While Eidevall’s name still adorned the team sheet on the match programme’s back cover, the faults of his premiership continued to show through on the pitch. After taking the early lead, the Gunners faltered, unsure of what to do on the ball, playing with an abundance of caution and on occasion finding themsleves unable to escape their own box.

Arsenal’s lack of edge in front of goal was encapsulated in a frenetic 30-second period in which Valerenga goalkeeper Enblom made a triple save from an Arsenal corner, stopping one from range before recovering to deny Alessia Russo twice.

The second goal would come just before the half hour mark, and it was just as scrappy as the rest of the performance. Enblom made another strong save from Caldentey, but her parry fell to the feet of Caitlin Foord, who tapped in to double the host’s admittedly undeserved lead.

Valerenga’s finest moment of the evening would come 10 minutes before half as Laia Codina was caught in possession by Karina Saevik, who made a smart tackle before squaring the ball to Olaug Tvetden, who finished coolly beyond Daphne van Domselaar to halve the deficit.

That goal would be the extent of their attacking joy on the night, though. Other chances to reverse the narrative of the evening would come, but they went unfulfilled.

Arsenal would start the second half fast, but it was Valerenga who would have the first chance after the break as Saevik bombed forward and turned her marker Williamson inside out before putting her shot just over the bar.

On the ball, Arsenal’s confusion and lack of initiative continued to stand out. Despite spending a good deal of time in the attacking third, they struggled to penetrate a deep set Valerenga defense, with their few shots on target thwarted by the steadfast Enblom.

The rust persisted throughout the half. Arsenal enjoyed the majority of the possession but struggled to make use of it, relying on the one goal cushion secured before the break.

Caldentey would smash a third goal past Enblom after 85 minutes before, Alessia Russo added a breakaway fourth in injury time to secure an entirely unconvincing win for Arsenal.

The final scoreline flattered Arsenal massively: four goals could easily have been seven for all the possession and chances the hosts enjoyed. Finishing will prove to be a key area of improvement for the next manager to face.

The win sees the Gunners take second place in the Group C, while Valerenga remain bottom with four matches remaining.

Lineups

ARS: Van Domselaar, Fox, Codina, Williamson, Caldentey, Mead, Little (C), McCabe, Walti, Foord, Russo

VAL: Enblom, Horte, Kovacs, Thomsen (C), Vickius, Thorsnes, Tvedten, Stolen Godo, Bjelde, Heidarsdottir, Saevik

Featured image credit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images via One Football