Arsenal women’s player ratings vs Benfica: Beth Mead and Alessia Russo secure vital Champions League win for struggling Gunners but USWNT star Emily Fox suffers injury scare
.jpg?ssl=1 "Arsenal women’s player ratings vs Benfica: Beth Mead and Alessia Russo secure vital Champions League win for struggling Gunners but USWNT star Emily Fox suffers injury scare")
Arsenal will be relieved to have reached the international break after their sluggish form continued on Thursday, albeit in a 2-0 win at Benfica that got their Champions League title defense underway. The Gunners have found things difficult of late, winning just one of their last five games before this match, and those struggles continued in a rather toothless performance in Portugal despite goals from Beth Mead and Alessia Russo.
Mead’s effort was a fitting way to open the scoring in a match which featured very few chances for either team. Returning to the city where they lifted the Champions League trophy last May, Arsenal controlled proceedings in Lisbon, albeit in a very patient manner that rarely threatened to upset Benfica. The closest the Gunners came to an opening in the first half came from set pieces, as Mead’s free-kick flew over the bar from around a yard out before Lotte Wubben-Moy’s header later grazed the side netting. It was in fact the hosts who produced the best opening of an uneventful match, when Diana Gomes forced Daphne van Domselaar into a superb save just before the break.
But just as Arsenal’s luck seemed to be running out on Sunday, when they ended a four-game winless run with a 1-0 win over Brighton, it was here again. At the Emirates Stadium, a cross from Olivia Smith deflected off a defender to secure three points. At the Estadio da Luz, it was a series of lucky ricochets that finally allowed Mead, stuck on the ground in the penalty area, to stretch her leg and score one of the strangest goals of her storied career.
Although they rarely looked on the verge of scoring, Arsenal also rarely looked on the verge of conceding and so, once the net rippled, the Gunners were able to watch the game end with calm and confidence, with Russo’s clinical finish from a clever Chloe Kelly free-kick able to seal a precious Champions League victory after their title defense began with a worrying defeat against Lyon. The hope now will be that this team can return from the international break refreshed and start to look more like the team that conquered Europe last season. They will also have their fingers crossed on the injury front, after Fox and Steph Catley were forced off late in a defense already missing Leah Williamson.
AIM assesses Arsenal players at Estadio da Luz…