Everton Women vs Arsenal Women. Women's Super League.
Walton Hall ParkAttendance1,350.
Report and free match highlights as Arsenal kept their Women's Super League title hopes alive with a 4-1 win over Everton; the Gunners cruised into a four-goal lead at the break as Caitlin Foord (2), Katie McCabe and Lotte Wubben-Moy all scored; Lia Walti's injury marred the win
Thursday 18 May 2023 10:05, UK
Arsenal kept their slim Women's Super League title chances alive after a first-half onslaught helped them to a 4-1 win over Everton, who ended the game with 10 players.
Everton stood firm against Jonas Eidevall's side for half an hour, but the hosts gifted the Gunners four goals in the quarter of an hour before the break, as Caitlin Foord struck twice, while Katie McCabe and Lotte Wubben-Moy also got in on the act.
But the Gunners' victory, which aided their Champions League qualification hopes, was marred by a horror injury to Lia Walti, who was stretchered off after Aggie Beever-Jones caught her high on the ankle.
Beever-Jones was eventually sent off for the challenge, after initially being only booked, but Arsenal failed to make the most of their player advantage. In fact, their goal difference took a hit as Katja Snoeijs found the top corner from a free-kick for a late Everton consolation.
In an Instagram post after the game, 19-year-old Chelsea loanee Beever-Jones apologised to Walti, saying: "I'm absolutely devastated to receive the first red card of my career vs Arsenal tonight. At 19, I struggle to put into words how upset I am about injuring another player.
"Most importantly, I meant no harm whatsoever to Lia Walti. I'm just not the type of player that would intentionally hurt another player.
"I'm so sorry Lia. I hope the injury is not too serious and you make a full and fast recovery to Arsenal and the Women's World Cup."
Back on the pitch, Eidevall needs to rally his injury-hit squad again for the challenge of Chelsea this Sunday, a match which will likely decide where the league title ends up this season.
Everton actually had most of the ball during their first-half nightmare, holding it in good areas but doing little with it.
At the other end, Stina Blackstenius went close on a couple of occasions but Arsenal also rarely threatened in the opening quarter.
But, just before the half-hour mark, the deadlock was broken. Blackstenius forced a mistake from Everton as they went short at a deep throw-in and the ball broke to Walti.
The returning Arsenal midfielder fed Foord in the box and she swept past Emily Ramsey with an effort off the post.
Everton nearly equalised straight from kick-off as Wubben-Moy gave away the ball cheaply to Snoeijs, who had a one-on-one. The England centre-back managed to get back in time, though, to deny the Everton striker with a superb last-ditch challenge.
Moments later, Arsenal doubled their advantage as McCabe struck from 30 yards, beating Ramsey in the bottom corner after Everton gave away possession cheaply in their own half again.
Everton goalkeeper Ramsey then made two routine saves from Foord and Blackstenius, but the hosts failed to recognise the warning signs.
For Arsenal's third, Frida Maanum fed McCabe down the left and her cross was met by Blackstenius, who forced Ramsey into a good save. The rebound fell to Foord, who headed home with five minutes remaining until half-time.
Everton needed just three minutes to concede again as Blackstenius won a free-kick on the byline, leaving Maanum to cross for Wubben-Moy, who headed home while unmarked.
In a quest for more goals, Eidevall made an attacking half-time change as Jodie Taylor came on for defender Rafaelle Souza. But it was not long before Arsenal were forced into another change in unfortunate circumstances.
Beever-Jones took a heavy touch in the box and caught Walti on the ankle, much to the fury of the midfielder's team-mates.
The referee initially punished Beever-Jones with a booking but, after consulting her assistant on the touchline, upgraded it to a straight sending off. Walti, meanwhile, was taken off on a stretcher in a blow for Arsenal and Switzerland's World Cup squad.
Arsenal looked shell-shocked and failed to take full advantage of their player advantage. Taylor headed over from close-range after McCabe's cross found her a few yards out from goal, while Gio Queiroz struck the post late on.
Ramsey also had to be equal to low efforts from Taylor and fellow substitute Katharine Kuhl.
In a laborious half for Everton, they eventually had something to shout about with 10 minutes to go when Snoeijs headed a corner high into the net, with Arsenal showing a moment of hesitation.
The Gunners cannot show such slack play when Emma Hayes' Chelsea take them on at the weekend.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall to Sky Sports:
"Everton are a challenging team to play against if you don't get your pressing detail right, we did it enough times in the first half to get result. I would prefer us to play the whole 90 minutes.
"We can all see it's a reckless challenge and she hits our player really badly. Of course we are really sorry for losing Lia, probably for some time. We need to assess it of course. We also think about her, she has a World Cup to play in the summer. There are a lot of emotions and thoughts going into here, then we need to keep on going as a group. We have handled challenges and adversity as a group. I know there is zero intention of the Everton player for having that outcome, it's sometimes reckless and sometimes you go in with too much pace.
"You can't think about it being cruel, then you think things are happening for a reason. I don't. These injuries are different to other injuries we have."
"Aggie was really sad, she didn't mean to do it. That's football sometimes, she tries to win the ball back. There's no lifted leg or anything, so I don't know why the referee was looking at it. But after talking to others, she decided it was a red. She comes in with a lot of force, you can argue it's a red, you can't complain about it. But stick to what you see instead of changing it."
Everton manager Brian Sorensen to Sky Sports:
"We don't stick 100 per cent to what we want to do. Again, before the goals came we played through them and looked comfortable. But then we switched off, it's some of the softest goals I've seen for a long time, while the ones at Chelsea last week were of quality.
"I was calm at half-time against Chelsea, I was not calm this time because it was no good enough. We saw a reaction in the second half. It was hard when we got the red card but at least showed courage and toughness when it gets hard.
"We have to learn to be switched on in transitional moment. But I still feel the way forward is building on that energy and playing style. It's a process. Arsenal almost made it to the Champions League final and we played with them. Defensively we have to be sharper than in the last two games and that is something we can practice. But I will never go away to kicking long balls, because then we will definitely lose ten times out of ten.
"Both ends we need to be better, when we get that right, we will compete with them."
Everton are at home again on Sunday May 21 when they host Brighton. Kick-off 1pm. They complete their season at Manchester City on Saturday May 27 with a 2.30pm kick-off.
Arsenal have a huge fixture at title rivals Chelsea next Sunday, kick-off 12.30pm, before finishing with a final-day fixture at home to Aston Villa.
