Leah Williamson trophy hopes hang by a thread after Arsenal's FA Cup farewell
Everything was laid out perfectly for the narrative gods.
Leah Williamson bore the captain’s armband in the absence of Arsenal skipper Kim Little. The home crowd at Meadow Park was in good song and spirit.
And while a date with Manchester City in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup would always pose a formidable challenge, the sight of Williamson back in the starting XI for only the second time in 10 months stirred the sort of premonition that things would finally start to fall into place for an Arsenal side that has laboured to tease out a convincing rhythm this season.
There was also her pre-match interview. Williamson, jovial yet reflective, spoke about her time on the touchlines as she returned from rupturing her ACL. She insisted simply returning to the competitive fold was victory enough, but at the mention of silverware, the 26-year-old’s face betrayed her previous temperance.
“When it came to returning to the pitch that was my biggest moment, even having conversations last week, my first start, I made sure to say that I was going to enjoy the day,” she told BBC. “But a trophy would be, that’s the vision, the dream. I hope so.”
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Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City on Sunday means achieving the dream will be an even greater task as the Gunners are now only in contention for two trophies, the WSL title and the Women's League Cup, the latter being their main hope given their drop off in league form.
The dream is not only Williamson’s, but everyone’s at Arsenal. The club with the most FA Cup victories in the women’s game will not only, once again, fail to grace its final stages, but the hunt for a second piece of silverware in six years remains ongoing.
It’s a startling dearth of silverware for a side which touts as much prestige and history as Arsenal, who in the last few years have struggled to get the better of their rivals Chelsea and Manchester City in crunch moments.
Leah Williamson said winning silverware with Arsenal upon returning from her ACL injury would be 'a dream' (Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)A similar tale unfolded on Sunday as City looked the better side for large portions of the match, despite hardly testing the Gunners' keeper Sabrina D'Angelo. Arsenal, plagued once again by a lack of clinical edge, saw an attack increasingly isolated with Alessia Russo up top. And despite major improvements in enterprise and energy in the second half, the Gunners ultimately left it too late once more.
For Williamson, Sunday was especially cruel. Of all of Arsenal’s returning players this season, Williamson has been one of the most consistent. While Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema (absent from Sunday’s match due to an irritation in her knee) have sparkled in glimpses, it’s the reintegration of Williamson in the backline which promised to add stability in a side teeming with talent but struggling to hone a balance.
Williamson was in superb form on Sunday, doing well to thwart the danger of her compatriot Lauren Hemp and reading threats ahead of time, often the only sight of calm in an otherwise frenetic and disjointed first-half from the Gunners.
Williamson and England teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy struggled at times to deal with the danger of Khadija Shaw, Wubben-Moy finding herself fortunate to not have conceded a penalty for a clear elbow to Shaw’s face in the first-half.
Laia Aleixandri of Manchester City celebrates scoring in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup (Eddie Keogh - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)But for England boss Sarina Wiegman in attendance, the sight of Williamson demonstrating, in just her second start since returning from injury, her usual aplomb will be deeply encouraging ahead of the international break.
Sunday’s defeat arrives one week after a surprise loss to West Ham United in the WSL, leaving Jonas Eidevall’s side six points adrift of reigning league champions Chelsea, an unlikely gap to make up with the Blues atypically faltering somewhere.
A defence of their Continental Cup title from last season looks to be the Gunners’, and Williamson’s, best chance at silverware this season, a prospect that looks comfortable at the moment with a quarter-final clash against Championship-side London City rescheduled for next week.
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"From a results perspective, we're really unhappy with it. I don't think we deserved to lose those two games [against City and West Ham]," said Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall after the match.
"It puts us into a really tough situation in order to achieve what we want to achieve this season. But we need to put our focus on things we can control and that's what we need to manage."
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