Women’s international round up
A lot of our Arsenal Women are currently away on international duty with their respected countries and Arsenal Women’s fans again have been gifted with a lot of action. With up to 20 women away with their countries there’s always going to be a lot to catch up on, here’s your run down of match day one of their international breaks.
The first match of the night for our Arsenal Women was Norway vs Portugal and Arsenal’s on form Frida Maanum started and played 85 minutes for Norway as they walked away 4-0 winners. Maanum was seen in the 85th minutes to have received a knock and was taken off quickly, Arsenal fans will be hoping it’s nothing too serious and Norway will be hoping she’s fit enough for their next game against Austria, in a must-win clash that could see the loser knocked out of the Nations League.
Next up we saw an Arsenal vs Arsenal clash when Switzerland and Sweden faced off in Switzerland. Noelle Maritz and Lia Walti started for Switzerland as they walked away 1-0 winners. Stina Blackstenius and Amanda Ilestedt started from Sweden but couldn’t manage to walk away with the win and currently will have to win their next match against Group Leaders Spain if they wish to go through to the next round.
Katie McCabe’s Ireland then went on to beat Hungary 1-0 after an own goal went past the Hungarian keeper late in the second half. McCabe started and played a full 90 minutes as striker for Ireland but didn’t manage to get on the score sheet, but she did have a good game and stayed solid throughout. Ireland top their group on 15 points, with Northern Ireland 8 points behind and will be going into the next stages of the competition no matter what happens on the last group game.
Kathrine Moller Kuhl and Denmark faced off against Germany and walked away 3-0 losers. Kuhl started and played 90 minutes and considering they lost 3-0 had a pretty good game personally. Denmark currently sit 2nd in their group on equal 12 points with Germany and with Iceland below on 6 points, both Denmark and Germany look to have qualified for the next stage.
We were then treated to another Arsenal vs Arsenal clash when England faced off against The Netherlands. In what was an eventful game to say the least. Victoria Pelova started and played a full 90 minutes for The Netherlands and in the first half they dominated the play, scoring 2 goals before half time and left England with a lot of work to do. In the second half Beth Mead and Russo were brought on to try and save the game and made a huge impact off the bench, England somehow coming back from 2-0 down to a 3-2 win and it all comes down to the last match for Group 1.
Manuela Zinsberger started between the sticks for Austria as they walked away 3-0 losers to France. Although conceding 3 goals, she has a decent game and made some vital saves. France dominated the whole game and if it wasn’t for Zinsberger could have been at least 6-0 up. Austria currently sit 2nd in their group and with a win against Norway will go through to the next round.
Australia faced off against Canda in a friendly that against saw another Arsenal vs Arsenal clash. Cloe Lacasse starting for Canada and playing a full 90 minutes, picking up an assist in their 5-0 win over the Matildas. In somewhat of a makeshift squad, none of our Aussie Arsenal girls started but Kyra Cooney-Cross was brought in for the last 10 minutes of the game and unfortunately didn’t see too much of the ball when on the pitch. Sabrina D’Angelo made the bench for Canada but didn’t start.
And finally Laia Codina’s Spain faced off against Italy and walked away 3-2 losers. Spain have already topped their group and are safe. Condina made the bench but didn’t get any minutes
