12 November 2023 , 22:15
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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall credited an "emotional" half-time chat with his players for the Gunners' sensational 6-2 second-half comeback victory over Leicester City on Sunday evening.
Eidevall's side were left staring down what could have been an insurmountable lead as Sam Tierney and Janice Cayman scored within 54 seconds of one another to give the Foxes a shock, and deserved, first-half lead.
The hosts had boasted their fair share of possession and looked to be supplying the Women's Super League with its second upset of the day after Brighton secured three points against title contenders Manchester City through Lee Guem-min's 81st-minute strike.
The goals marked the first time Leicester had ever scored against Arsenal in the WSL. But whatever joy had been thrumming through the hosts was soon dashed as the Gunners returned with an apparent vengeance after the interval, needing just under 12 minutes to flip the game back in their favour.
"To be honest, it was a bit emotional at half-time," Eidevall told SkySports afterwards. "Because we needed to apply ourselves much better in the individual duals.
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"Apart from that, we kept the structure, sometimes that's the hardest part - you can get tricked by the scoreline. We kept the structure and just spoke about application.
"We were all in agreement that we needed to show a better version of ourselves in the second half. Great credit to the players for believing and sticking to the game plan."
Caitlin Foord of Arsenal celebrates after scoring the team's third goal against Leicester City (Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Cloe Lacasse put the comeback into motion four minutes after the restart as she beat Courtney Nevin to the ball and halved the deficit with a cool finish. Two minutes later Arsenal were level after an unmarked Alessia Russo placed a shot beyond Foxes keeper Janina Leitzig.
Drawing proceedings level in such a truncated time period wouldn't suffice for Eidevall's 50th WSL match in charge of Arsenal. And soon Caitlin Foord completed the turnaround by guiding home Russo's cross before Victoria Pelova tapped-in from Lacasse's cross a minute later.
Arsenal's dominance would not subsist despite the swelling scoreline, with Stina Blackstenius getting in on the action, while Lina Hurtig, who twice slammed the woodwork, added the final touches deep into injury time.
The victory marked Eidevall's 36th while at the helm of Arsenal and lifted side to within three points of league leaders Chelsea as they extended their winning streak to five across all competitions.