09 February 2023 , 12:21
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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall said his players adapted "brilliantly" to a new tactical system he utilised to beat Man City in the Conti League Cup semi-final.
Arsenal booked a spot in the tournament final for the ninth time as forward Stina Blackstenius came off the bench to score an extra-time winner, which deflected past Sandy MacIver. Eidevall employed a variation of a 3-5-2 system with Leah Williamson redeployed in defence and Katie McCabe and Laura Wienroither occupying the wing-back roles.
Although they were second best in the first 45, McCabe and Wienroither got to grips with City's wide forwards Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp as the game wore on. Arsenal created the better chances in the final half an hour and should have won the tie in 90 minutes, but Lina Hurtig and Blackstenius failed to convert from good positions.
They had to wait for extra time, but in the end it was a tactical triumph for Eidevall, up against a shrewd operator in City manager Gareth Taylor. The Swede revealed after the win that the players have only worked on the system recently and he was full of praise for how quickly they picked it up.
"It is about both our players' strengths, but also the opponents' strengths. I spoke to the players last week about it because we had a (training) session focused on developing that system.
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"I told the players I wanted an alternative system to shift to in games or even between games. I said I don't know when we'll use it but I wanted to see us using it in practice.
Arsenal celebrate after Stina Blackstenius opens the scoring in the Conti Cup semi-final (The FA via Getty Images)"I thought it was a good opportunity for us to try it and it showed their game intelligence. The players had very limited time with it but I think they did brilliantly."
Despite their win, Eidevall did admit that it was a closely-fought contest only settled by fine details. He will now take his side to the final at Selhurst Park next month, in a bid to win Arsenal's first trophy since 2019 and his first as manager.
"It was a really good game, settled by small margins. We have to be humble and say City also did a number of things really well. I hope it was an enjoyable game to watch.
"We lost 36 hours in preparation to them for this game, so I'm really proud of all the work ethic we had today. The extra 27 minutes we had to defend will have built character."
The semi-final was the first part of a double-header between the two clubs. Arsenal make the trip to the Academy Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, needing a win to maintain their league title chances. But Eidevall doesn't believe their Conti Cup win will have much of an impact on the WSL clash.
"It’s a completely new match," he added. "And I don’t think either of the teams here cannot go under 100 per cent because then you don’t win. Both teams wanted to win and play in the final so we had to be at our very best.
"It was a strong performance against a strong opponent. I thought it was a game decided by small margins and we worked really hard to get those margins on our side, but we have to be humble and say that City also did a lot of things really well."
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