Arsenal 5 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Brighton and Hove Albion conceded more goals against Arsenal at the Emirates than in their first six Women’s Super League matches this season.
Three goals in the first 25 minutes set the tone this evening (Friday 8 November) with the opener coming from Beth Mead who scored a hat-trick at Falmer when England beat Norway 8-0 in Euro 2022.
Less than 10 minutes later Caitlin Foord added the second and, in the 25th minute, Frida Maanum made it 3-0 to the hosts.
In the 76th minute, substitute Lina Hurtig extended Arsenal’s lead and, five minutes into the 16 minutes of stoppage time, Alessia Russo tucked away a penalty to take the score to 5-0.
The result cemented a winless away record against the Gunners who closed the gap in the WSL table although Brighton stay third, with 13 points from seven games. Arsenal are fourth with 12 points from seven.
Head coach Dario Vidosic said: “It was a tough night. We know they are a fantastic team and we came here to try to make it as difficult as possible.
“But we got it a little bit wrong in the first half. We had a plan but couldn’t put it together and when that happens, top teams will punish you.
“In the second half there were moments when what we wanted to do was there but then sometimes sloppiness happened. We switched off in moments and they have very good players who can hurt you.
“It was a night to learn from, especially how to keep these good teams down for longer. Defensively, we got caught a few times and we have to learn quickly if we are going to challenge the top sides.
“We wanted to be brave and test ourselves against the best but it didn’t quite happen. There are still a lot of positives so we will pick ourselves up and prepare for next week.”
Albion missed Arsenal loan signing Michelle Agyemang who was unable to play because of the terms of her deal.
Kiko Seike came closest for Brighton when she struck the bar in the second half but Maria Thorisdottir went off after a knock to her calf and there were concerns that Aisha Masaka may have dislocated her shoulder.
