It was hats off to Jenna Nighswonger and Victoria Pelova for Frida Maanum tonight, as she profited from two pinpoint assists against West Ham United.
Following a cagey first half in Borehamwood, Maanum headed in from Nighswonger’s cross to give us the breakthrough, before getting on the end of an accurate ball over the top from Pelova to make it two.
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Report: Arsenal Women 2-0 West Ham United](https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/women/2025-Aug-27/women-west-ham-united-women-match-report?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
Asked how it felt to be back scoring in front of the North Bank, Maanum said: “Yeah, it was brilliant. It's amazing being back here. First time for me in this season at Borehamwood, so it was a nice feeling. I think it was a team effort and a team performance, which was nice as well.
“They were was two great goals, so it's easy to play with good players like that.”
“We created a lot of good chances in the first half too and there'll be momentum in that and into the second half. I think we just kept going in the second half and made a lot of changes, which is sometimes difficult, but I think we adapted well into the game in the second half and came up with a good win.”
It was a very different game to Saturday’s topsy-turvy 4-3 loss to Tottnham Hotspur, but across pre-season it’s beneficial to get practice in lots of different game states.
“Yeah, it's obviously good to play against teams who we are going to play in the league,” Maanum said. “Two tough tests, tough against Tottenham and now today, but it's good to get a win, a good feeling going into the season.”
Next up, our 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League begins at Emirates Stadium against London City Lionesses at 1.30pm on Saturday, September 6, and Maanum can’t wait.
“We love the atmosphere here at Borehamwood but it's obviously something special about Emirates Stadium” she said. “We all know that and I just can't wait to put the shirt on and go out there in front of a full-packed stadium.”
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