Key talking points as Beth Mead returns in Arsenal's dramatic comeback vs Villa

15 October 2023 , 15:11

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Arsenal celebrate Russo's late winner

A dramatic injury time turnaround from Arsenal's secured a first win of the WSL season against Aston Villa.

Villa looked to have secured a surprise win thanks to Maz Pacheco's header and led for most of the second half. But in a chaotic finish Arsenal threw everything at the visitors, including Beth Mead, and won it thanks to late goals from Katie McCabe and new signing Alessia Russo in the 92nd and 94th minutes respectively.

McCabe's late leveller looked to have saved the home side, but charged on by an electric home crowd, Russo scored an injury time winner to send the Emirates crazy. It was the first league goal from the England international since her move from Man Utd in the summer.

Villa, who also came into the game without a league win, were well organised at the back and took their chance when poor marking on a first half corner allowed Pacheco to ghost in at the back post. Jonas Eidevall's team did respond and came close on a number of occasions with Caitlin Foord hitting the post and Russo failing to turn in the rebound. But McCabe finally found the net to spark a dramatic turnaround which broke Villa hearts.

Here are the big talking points from the Emirates.

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For the second straight home game Arsenal had been punished for sloppy defending and looked to be drawing a blank in front of goal. Despite good support from the stands the players looked out of ideas. But when McCabe fired home from a tight angle only minutes after Mead was reintroduced, Arsenal had momentum.

And when Russo's shot from the edge of the box squirmed into the bottom corner, a stunning turnaround was complete. For so long it looked as if the Gunners would be beaten again at home, in front of another huge crowd.

Instead this comeback could be the turning point in their season.

Russo's goal was her third in all competitions since her move from Man Utd

Villa hit the ground running

After Arsenal's bad start to the new campaign the last thing the Emirates faithful needed to see was their team once again falling behind. But they did so thanks to some poor defending from a set piece.

25 minutes in Aston Villa opened the scoring from their very first corner, with not one player in Red picking up Maz Pacheco. The Villa wing-back didn't even have to jump but simply steer her header into the bottom corner, sending the travelling support into raptures.

Stunned, the Arsenal team immediately held an inquest on the edge of their penalty area, having fallen behind for the fourth game in a row. Thankfully for them, their late comeback ensured they got out of jail.

Maz Pacheco of Aston Villa (obscured) scores the team's first goal

Russo edges Daly in battle of the England strikers

Sarina Wiegman was the Emirates to take in the game and also got the chance to watch England's two highest goalscorers in the league last season. Both Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly led the line for their teams and the Arsenal No.23 would have had her first Gunners league goal before half time had it not been for Daly.

Towards the end of the first half Russo headed back across the face of goal and for a split second the ball looked to be dropping in. In stepped Daly with a excellent clearance to deny her England colleague. In the end though, Russo had the final say when her injury time effort from the edge of the box won it for the Gunners.

With both fighting for the No.9 spot for England, after Daly's impressive showing against Scotland last month, today will have done Russo's case for a place the world of good.

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Zinsberger was back today as rotation between the two continued and the Spaniard will have known she needed to perform after a below-par display in the defeat to Liverpool. But a clean sheet proved out of her reach after she was unable to get near Pacheco's header.

That corner was only conceded when Kim Little made a botched clearance, rather than letting Zinsberger come off her line to claim a loose ball. Whoever plays in goal, the players in front need to be in full confidence of them, and right now that doesn't look the case at Arsenal.

The fans wanted Mead back and got their wish

After nearly a year away - Beth Mead is back

As predicted following Jonas Eidevall's pre-match press conference, today was another big step forward in Beth Mead's return from injury after a lengthy lay-off. One of the biggest roars of the day came when Mead was spotted warming up after just 13 minutes, the first time she had been seen at this stadium since her agonising ACL rupture last November.

Arsenal made plenty of changes in the second half as they were chasing the game but Eidevall choose to leave Mead on the bench, despite the Emirates faithful loudly calling for her introduction. With three minutes of normal time they got their wish.

To huge ovation Mead was back, 330 days from her last competitive appearance. For both Arsenal and England it felt like a huge moment. The rush from the crowd when Mean entered the game seemed to galvanise the players and within only a few minutes McCabe had Arsenal level.

Jack Lacey-Hatton