Aussie coach Dario Vidosic masterminded an enormous upset in the Women’s FA Cup overnight with his Brighton and Hove Albion side dumping out Arsenal 2-0 to progress to the semi-finals.
Goals from former Sydney FC striker Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes sealed a victory that Brighton’s own website described as ‘quite probably, the single biggest one‑off victory in the history of Brighton & Hove Albion Women – but not just for its historic meaning, also for what it revealed about how the team is evolving under Dario Vidosic’.
The Seagulls beat an Arsenal side featuring the likes of Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius, Mariona Caldentey and Kim Little, while Matildas star Caitlin Foord, Alessia Russo and Katie McCabe all came off the bench.
Matildas defender Charlie Rule played a full 90 minutes for Brighton.
“It’s so special,” said Brighton forward Fran Kirby.
“We believed we could get a result, but to actually come and do it against a team of Arsenal’s quality is really special for everyone involved.”
Haley added: “We definitely have dared to dream. A game like this is a nice stepping stone for us to show that we can compete against the best teams in the world … we’re fully focused on being at Wembley.”
For Vidosic, this is a huge moment for multiple reasons.
Not only is it a reflection of the work he has done with this Brighton team, but the win came the day after what would have been his late father Rado’s 65th birthday.
“It’s been a tough weekend, so yesterday was my dad’s birthday,” Vidosic told the BBC.
“So I think it was nice to spend it with everyone and sort of everyone really got around me, a lot of hugs from the girls to lift me up.
“It was a tough day in moments.
“I’m sure he was waiting this one today and he’ll be really proud of the girls and what they were able to show.
“It’ll probably all hit me a little bit later, once I get to now pause a little bit and be alone.
“Very happy and hopefully dad is proud of as well of this one today.”
Kirby added: “I really hope he is proud of us and everything we achieved today. Dario is an incredible man, as was his dad.”
Speaking after the match, Vidosic also revealed a last minute change that was key to defeating Arsenal.
After getting word of the state of the pitch, he altered his tactics – and it paid off.
“We’re delighted with the result,” said Vidosic.
“We would have loved to play a little more football but we heard about the condition of the pitch this morning and when we arrived we adapted accordingly.
“We elected to be a little more direct in the first phase of play and then tried to play more in their half. I thought we did that really well and in the opening 20 minutes we had control and created some good chances.
“Given the quality Arsenal have, we were always going to need to react to their attacking threat and I thought we did that very well. We then scored the goal early in the second half, got the second and defensively we were excellent.
“Arsenal are able to bring off one front line and replace it with another, but we stood up to the test. We covered the ground, closed down the spaces we needed to, and that has put us in the hat for the next round.”
[On the loss, Arsenal boss Renee Slegers told ArseBlog](https://t.co/BUhdoZAhLB): “They were hungry and I could feel it.
They were competing and they were giving everything.
“But that’s something we know that an opponent will bring, if you look at the games they have left in the season, this is a key game for them.
“And I said they brought that and it was about small margins, I think, and quite an equal game, but they have more energy, more urgency and maybe also one of the reasons why they finished the chances that they got.”
Brighton are now into the last four in the Women’s FA Cup, with the draw to be made on Monday local time.
The remaining quarter-finals will see Chelsea face Tottenham and Manchester City take on Birmingham City, while Liverpool are also through.
“The belief is there in the changing room,” Kirby said. “We’re going to do absolutely everything to get to that final.”