Paris FC 2-2 Arsenal: Arsenal Frustrated after Paris FC Comeback
Arsenal Women versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Arsenal looked to follow their weekend defeat with a win in Paris in the UEFA Women’sChampions League against Paris FC but two goals from the French side in the second half saw Arsenal drop points in the league pathway.
Alessia Russo opened up the scoring for the Gunners in the 40th minute after a one-two with Georgia Stanway before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net.
Stanway scored Arsenal’s second just after half-time after a cross from Emily Fox found her in the box and, after controlling the ball with her chest, Stanway made sure it ended in a goal.
The second half from Arsenal saw the quality drop off from the North London side, which allowed the hosts to get back into the game. A brilliant counter attack from Paris FC saw their captain Clara Mateo round Misa Rodriguez and calmly slot the ball home to start the comeback for the Parisian team.
Arsenal should have fought to extend their lead after conceding, however their quality diminished and their lack of urgency was nowhere to be seen, much like in their previous games this season.
Penalty Blunder
Paris FC’s equaliser came from an Arsenal mistake at the back, one which caused a lot of confusion for the Arsenal players on the pitch and also for fans online.
The Gunners were awarded a goal kick, and Misa retrieved the ball. All goal kicks had been taken by Leah Williamson so there was no surprise that the Spanish goalkeeper gave the ball to the England captain to take.
Williamson handled the ball to set the goal kick before the referee blew her whistle and awarded Paris FC a penalty for a handball offence.
Confusion arose, but it was deemed that Misa had kicked the ball towards Williamson inside her box and therefore had taken the goal kick, thus awarding Paris FC their penalty.
The miscommunication from Williamson and Misa allowed Paris FC back into the game with Maeline Mendy scoring from the spot in the 87th minute to earn the Parisian side a point against the Gunners.
Arsenal Player Ratings
Misa Rodriguez - 6
Misa made excellent saves through both halves when Paris FC attacked and came out of her box when needed to keep Arsenal’s clean sheet intact, but the two goals bring the performance down.
The penalty incident is going to be something that the Spanish goalkeeper does not do again.
Emily Fox - 7
Fox got an assist through Stanway’s goal and had no defensive errors to account for. The American fullback is quietly underrated and one of the best in the league so there is no surprise that she gives steady performances every week.
Leah Williamson - 6
Leah Williamson versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Leah Williamson versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Williamson was defensively solid for most of the game, like she had been in her previous games for Arsenal this season, but the two goals coming from defensive errors from the centre-backs show that there is much to change and work on in this Arsenal side.
The England captain will also be frustrated in her performance after she was the one that conceded the penalty for Arsenal and allowed her team to drop the three points they were on their way to.
Lotte Wubben-Moy - 6
Lotte Wubben-Moy came into the starting 11 over the injured Steph Catley and often worked on clearing any balls from Arsenal’s penalty area that Paris FC worked their way into.
Wubben-Moy seemingly clashes with Williamson when in defence, with miscommunication between the two for the Paris FC first goal; something the two Hale Enders should have worked out with the amount of years they have played together but seemingly not.
Ona Batlle - 6
The Spanish fullback was seemingly frustrated by the football produced by Arsenal in the first half, with Paris FC being resilient in the way of not letting the Gunners through.
Batlle was involved in the defensive error leading to the goal for Paris FC, but otherwise had a solid game for the Gunners.
Georgia Stanway - 8 [POTM]
Georgia Stanway versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Georgia Stanway versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Stanway opened her Arsenal scoring account after scoring the Gunners second goal of the game after half time and also getting the assist on the first by Russo, but that was not all she did in the game against Paris FC.
She held down the fort in midfield alongside Kyra Cooney-Cross and kept Arsenal in the lead while she was on the pitch. Taking off Stanway was likely where the drop in intensity came from and made the Gunners susceptible to attacks from the Parisian side.
Kyra Cooney-Cross - 8
Another solid performance from Cooney-Cross shows the effort that she had been putting in to cement herself in the starting 11 for Arsenal and paying off. Playing as the lone 6 in the midfield, Cooney-Cross showed just how up for the challenge she was.
Kim Little - 6
Kim Little had a better game than the past few weeks but still not enough to point to a reason as to why she is starting. Is it because she’s the captain? Renée Slegers needs to show signs of ruthlessness in dropping players that are complacent within the team and play others with a sense of hunger.
It brings the question to light of why did Arsenal sign Géraldine Reuteler if they were just going to leave her on the bench and let her make her debut in a game that was already lost against Chelsea?
Lisa Baum - 7
Lisa Baum started her first game for the Gunners in the Women’s Champions League and went out with a point to prove. Baum has been excellent on the wing for Arsenal, scoring in her competitive debut in the Women’s Super League and taking on defenders one v one.
Baum is not scared of the one v one challenge and likes to drive into the box, which is exactly what happened against Paris FC. Baum seemed to be the only one willing to drive at any defender for that chance, or even the ability to shoot outside the box.
Mariona Caldentey - 7
Mariona started the game on the left wing and spent the majority of the first half drifting centrally and leaving Batlle to cover the winger role as well as her defensive fullback role. Despite this, Mariona had a selfless game in terms of trying to get the ball into the open areas for the attackers on the pitch.
Alessia Russo - 8
Alessia Russo celebrating her goal versus Paris FC (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/ AFP via Getty Images)
Alessia Russo celebrating her goal versus Paris FC (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/ AFP via Getty Images)
Russo finally opened her scoring account for the season and opened the goal scoring against Paris FC with her first half strike, which should instil some confidence into the English striker.
Opportunities were few and far between in the second half for Russo, but it didn’t stop the English striker from working hard to get herself into the right positions.
Substitutes
Olivia Smith - 6
Olivia Smith versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Olivia Smith versus Paris FC (Photo by Lilou Cassin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Olivia Smith was subbed on just before the 60th minute and saw a shuffle in positioning for the other 10 on the field – taking Mariona’s left wing position while the Spanish midfielder moved infield.
Despite this, Smith did not show much in terms of what she did on the pitch except a few set pieces which, like any Arsenal fan could have predicted, went nowhere.
Smilla Holmberg - 7
Holmberg got subbed on for Fox with 20 minutes of the game remaining, and immediately went on the attack down the right hand side. Like Baum, Holmberg likes to take defenders on one v one so there was no surprise that she did so when entering the fray.
Frida Maanum - 6
Maanum was subbed on at the same time as Smith for Stanway and had one decent shot on goal but offered nothing in terms of structure and stability like Stanway did. It again asks the question as to why Slegers subs on players who are complacent within the team and know they can get the minutes rather than fresh legs wanting to prove themselves.