Arsenal will be relieved to have hit the international break after their sluggish form continued on Thursday, albeit in a 2-0 victory at Benfica that got their Champions League title defence up and running. The Gunners have found things tough as of late, winning just one of their last five games coming into this fixture, and those struggles continued in a rather toothless performance in Portugal despite goals from Beth Mead and Alessia Russo.
Mead's effort was a fitting way to open the scoring in a game that featured very few chances for either team. Returning to the city where they lifted the Champions League trophy back in May, Arsenal controlled proceedings in Lisbon, though in a very patient manner that rarely threatened to trouble Benfica. The closest the Gunners came to an opening in the first half was from set pieces, as Mead's free-kick flew just a yard or so over the bar before Lotte Wubben-Moy's header later grazed the sidenetting. It was actually the hosts who had the best opening of an uneventful encounter, when Diana Gomes forced Daphne van Domselaar into a terrific save just before the break.
But just as Arsenal's luck seemed to be in on Sunday, when they ended a four-game winless run with a 1-0 win over Brighton, it was again here. At the Emirates Stadium, it was a cross from Olivia Smith that deflected in off a defender to secure three points. At the Estadio da Luz, it was a series of fortunate ricochets that eventually allowed Mead, stranded on the floor in the six-yard box, to stretch out a leg and score one of the strangest goals of her storied career.
While rarely looking like they were going to score, Arsenal also rarely looked like they were going to concede and so, once the net rippled, the Gunners were able to calmly and confidently see the game out, with Russo's clinical finish from a clever Chloe Kelly free-kick able to seal a valuable Champions League win after their title defence had started with a worrying defeat to Lyon. The hope now will be that this team can come back from the international break feeling refreshed and start to look more like the side that conquered Europe last term. They will also be crossing their fingers on an injury front, after both Fox and Steph Catley were forced off late on in a defence already missing Leah Williamson.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from the Estadio da Luz...