Getty/GOALIn Washington D.C., the Gunners defeated the NWSL high-flyers, with several young players also making a notable impression.
Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal team showcased all the goals a club aims to achieve in pre-season during their first match in the United States tour on Sunday. They defeated the Washington Spirit 2-1 in a challenging game. The match allowed Arsenal to give players time on the field, test them under difficult conditions, provide opportunities to different players, integrate new signings, establish new partnerships, and boost the team’s confidence. Alessia Russo’s two goals led to the Gunners’ victory, embodying all these pre-season objectives.
The England star's first strike was sublime, a gorgeous flick beyond the goalkeeper coming just 10 minutes into a game that saw Arsenal dominate the ball and the Spirit – third in the NWSL, the top league in the U.S. – cause real problems on the counter-attack. Most of that threat came from Ouleymata Sarr, the France forward who forced a good early save out of Manuela Zinsberger, fired just wide a few minutes later after turning Leah Williamson inside-out and eventually equalised for her team before half time, thanks to poor defending and a goalkeeping error.
As typically happens in these pre-season friendlies, the second half was significantly altered by substitutions. Arsenal swapped four players at halftime, which momentarily interrupted the game’s flow. However, it was briefly rejuvenated when Rosa Kafaji, a young player from Sweden who was recently recruited, assisted Russo in scoring her second goal of the day with only 15 minutes left in the game.
Following this, the Spirit’s game readiness became evident. Despite the NWSL going on hiatus during the Olympics, teams continued to compete in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. This kept the Washington team in top form, enabling them to intensify the pressure on their opponents in the later stages of the game. Their opponents could only resort to frantic defending to keep them from scoring another tying goal.
Still, Eidevall would have been pleased with the level of commitment he saw from his players during those chaotic moments. The Gunners didn’t hesitate to put up a fight for every ball, risking their bodies to ensure the success of their first pre-season match, regardless of the insignificance of the results at this time.
Ahead of another outing at the same venue next Sunday, against London rivals Chelsea, GOAL breaks down Arsenal's winners & losers from Audi Field…
