Beth Meade’s early goal was enough for Arsenal to secure at least a play-off place in the Women’s Champions League with a 1-0 win over FC Twente at Meadow Park.
A win against OH Leuven in next week’s final league match could be enough to secure an automatic route into the knockout stages, but for now Rene Slegger’s side have climbed into sixth place and are a lifeline.
When Meade scored the opener with a shoulder drop in the box with 10 minutes left, there was a sense among those in attendance that Arsenal were chasing a significant lead.
Just before Meade’s deflected finish, she was denied from the goal line with a header by Anna Nord as the Gunners began to gain the upper hand.
The reigning champions limited the visitors to one shot on target and Jamie Ravensbergen’s header in the second half, to just two shots in total. Arsenal themselves created many chances with 15 shots in total, five of which were on target.
Alessia Russo, who came into the game with 11 goals in 10 Champions League games, was unable to find the back of the net but almost doubled Arsenal’s advantage when her header hit the bar late on.
The narrow lead meant manager Rene Sleggers was taking no risks, although England captain Leah Williamson, who had been absent since June’s Euro final, returned to the bench.
Arsenal return to domestic duty as they host Everton on Saturday with a chance of finishing second in the Women’s Super League. It will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Mead: “We weren’t that ruthless in front of goal”
Beth Mead scores first in the 10th minute.
Arsenal forward Beth Mead told Disney+:
“It was a great game to play in. I enjoyed my football and every moment of the game.
“I thought we dominated the game. We could have taken a few more risks in the final third. We had some very good chances today and it’s very disappointing not to convert some of them.”
“They (Twente) are a hard-working team. They did really well and we knew they would too, but they were calm and had some good patterns of play. Today we just lacked a bit of ruthlessness in front of goal.”
On the winning goal: “We obviously want to score more goals. We had our chances. We weren’t merciful in front of goal today. When you have a chance, you have to score. We had a chance and we scored. I’m glad we got it this time.”
On top-four chances: “That’s the aim. We have to fight for three points next week. It was a back-and-forth season last time, so we can turn this around. We just want to finish the Champions League year with a win and be in a very good position for the future.”
Sleggers: It’s been tough, but I know we can compete.
Arsenal manager Rene Sleggers:
“I think we dominated. If you look at it, we were really close in a lot of games. We let ourselves down in a split second. Bayern Munich were really good in the first half but let themselves down in the second half. We know we can compete. We just have to work together and get the result over the line.”
“We scored the goal in the first half. I thought we did pretty well in the first half, the way we set up, the movement we created, the space we created in the box. After the Liverpool game, we said we wanted to keep the gas pedal on and go for another second.”
“It was difficult today. I think everything they were trying to do to control the game disrupted their rhythm a little bit in the second half. It disrupted it for us at times. I think it was a lot of set pieces and referee decisions. So we didn’t really get into a great flow and rhythm to build on the attack. But we piled on the set pieces.”
“We were chasing that second goal, but you know as long as you’re 1-0 they can always have a chance. But in the end I think we did it well. I’m really happy for the team and Aneke to keep a clean sheet today.”
“I’m very happy and I think we adjusted well. Of course they started to put up numbers in the last minutes and were able to take more direct shots from goal kicks. I think in that moment the team worked well on the first ball and the second ball. In the last few minutes we killed time. We controlled the game at the end and we controlled the game well.”
