Russo’s brace secures Arsenal victory over Washington Spirit in pre-season opener | OneFootball

Arsenal defeated Washington Spirit thanks to an Alessia Russo brace to kickstart their 2024/25 season in the best possible way.

For this first friendly of the pre-season, Jonas Eidevall had selected the following XI: Zinsberger; Lia, Williamson, Reid, McCabe; Little, Kühl; Mead, Maanum, Russo, Godfrey. All the substitutes came on in the second half: Williams, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Kafaji, Foord, Wienroither, Cooney-Cross, Agyemang, Harbert, Earl.

The game was played in very hot weather in Washington with the temperature reaching 29C during the game.

Arsenal scored with their first clear chance. Maanum tried to juggle past a defender, the ball went high, and Russo flicked it with the outside of her boot. 1-0 Arsenal after 10minutes.

Sarr for Spirit had two big chances that were saved before a cross from Sullivan came back to her, and she headed it in past Zinsberger, who was late to the ball. 1-1, 45+2′.

Finally, Arsenal scored the winner when Russo was sent through by a ball from Kafaji. The England striker went round Kingsbury to score into the empty net.

2-1 Arsenal, 75′.

Here are a few points that I noted from the game:

It was the team’s first pre-season friendly, so the pace alternated between fast and furious and slow at times, with the hot weather impacting the game.

Youngsters Vivienne Lia and Katie Reid started their second first-team game in a row, following the Australian All-Star friendly.

Reid is learning and improving at a rapid pace. With Teyah Goldie gone on loan at London City Lionesses, I would not be surprised if she becomes our fourth centre-back this season behind Williamson, Wubben-Moy, and Codina.

Lia is your proverbial Swiss army knife, as she can play in four positions: right-back, left-back, right-winger, and left-winger.

On another day, Sarr could have had a hat-trick for the Spirit, as she had five clear chances and converted only one of them. Ashley Hatch also missed an open goal for Spirit. Rosemonde Kouassi, who was on Arsenal’s scouting list, was impressive on Spirit’s left side.

Eidevall went for his tried and trusted 4-4-2 with Maanum behind Russo, and it worked quite well. Then Kafaji came on for Maanum, and she was fantastic. Her first touch, vision, and speed of thought showed why Arsenal bought her. Her creativity combined with Caldentey‘s off-the-ball movement and first-class technique will surely offer many solutions to break defences down that we could not last season.

All the players were used, meaning game time was shared, and all got a valuable workout. Obviously, some players who are on the tour were left off the team sheet, as we had only 10 subs.

The double pivot of Little-Kühl worked better once Kafaji was on the pitch, as those three players can play one or two-touch football with the ball to feet. They managed to carve a few openings in the Spirit defence.

Making four half-time changes disrupted the Arsenal passing game that was established in the first half, based on previous seasons’ tactics. That’s what the pre-season games are for—to try new things and combinations. We saw the team struggle against pace on the left and central channel with Kouassi and Sarr combining to great effect.

We should expect the full squad to be involved for the Chelsea game, with Fox, Codina, and Caldentey coming in and ready to take part at some point.

I think by the time the Southampton away friendly comes by on Saturday 31 August, Eidevall will have a good idea of the team that will start against Glasgow Rangers in the Women’s Champions League four days later.