Arsenal 4-0 Leicester City: Gunners extend WSL lead with victory over Leicester

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Women's Super League table with a routine victory over bottom side Leicester City in manager Lydia Bedford's first game in charge.

Jordan Nobbs and Vivianne Miedema put Arsenal 2-0 up before Leicester defender Jemma Purfield was sent off.

Substitute Frida Maanum headed in two goals in two minutes after the break to extend Arsenal's lead.

Victory means Arsenal pull four points clear of defending champions Chelsea.

Arsenal dominated possession early on and were rewarded when Nobbs fired in the opener from a Miedema cutback.

The Dutch striker then added a goal of her own when she was teed up from close range, before Purfield pulled back Arsenal forward Nikita Parris when she was racing through in a clear goalscoring opportunity.

That put Leicester on the back foot in the second half but they defended well for large periods until Maanum dealt two quick blows from crosses on each side.

Arsenal were able to capitalise on Chelsea's shock defeat by Reading on Saturday to move four points clear of Emma Hayes' side.

They also bounced back from successive defeats by Chelsea (in the FA Cup) and Barcelona (in the Champions League) in the past week.

Meanwhile, Leicester remain bottom of the table without a point in the WSL going into a crucial match with Birmingham City on 19 December, which could be a relegation decider.

'We have to keep winning'

Jordan Nobbs celebrates — Jordan Nobbs scored her first WSL goal of the season while captaining Arsenal

Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs speaking to Sky Sports: "It's huge for us. We're focusing on every game and every team has shown you can't take your foot off the pedal. That's what we wanted to do. It's a big three points for us and we keep moving forward.

"Anything can still change. We just have to keep winning every single game."

Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall speaking to Sky Sports: "I'm satisfied with the highs in the game. They were really good. But I thought we had too many lows in the game too.

"We made some easy mistakes which gave Leicester a few opportunities so we need to have higher standards. We gave the ball away too easily."

Leicester City boss Lydia Bedford speaking to Sky Sports: "The resilience was fantastic. We spoke earlier this week about being a family and sticking together. I said to them at half time that now is their opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and work together as a team. We worked hard and I was really pleased with that second half performance.

"These girls want to prove to the league they can climb the table. The passion came out on the pitch and you want to see that energy.

"Birmingham is obviously a big game but for us there's lots of games left this season that we have opportunities to pick up points in."

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Arsenal Women

Formation 4-3-3

18Williams
4Patten
20Boye SørensenSubstituted forSchnaderbeckat 60'minutes
3Wubben-MoySubstituted forGoldieat 86'minutes
15McCabeSubstituted forCatleyat 60'minutes
23Iwabuchi
8NobbsBooked at 90mins
13Wälti
14Parris
11MiedemaSubstituted forMaanumat 72'minutes
9MeadSubstituted forLittleat 60'minutes

Substitutes

1Zinsberger
5Beattie
7Catley
10Little
12Maanum
19Foord
22Schnaderbeck
24Stenson
29Goldie

Leicester City Women

Formation 4-4-2

1Lambourne
6Brougham
23PurfieldBooked at 43mins
15Howard
14de Graaf
27O'BrienBooked at 6mins
18BarkerSubstituted forPikeat 55'minutes
22PlumptreBooked at 86mins
3TierneyBooked at 82mins
9SigsworthBooked at 3minsSubstituted forSmithat 61'minutes
7Flint

Substitutes

8Pike
10Devlin
19Grant
20Zajmi
34Smith
48Harris

Referee:: Emily Heaslip
Attendance:: 1,316

Match Stats

Home TeamArsenal WomenAway TeamLeicester City Women

Possession: Home76%; Away24%

Shots: Home25; Away2

Shots on Target: Home10; Away0

Corners: Home10; Away0

Fouls: Home4; Away8

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Arsenal Women 4, Leicester City Women 0.
90'+5'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Arsenal Women 4, Leicester City Women 0.

90'+4'
Post update
Attempt missed. Nikita Parris (Arsenal Women) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mana Iwabuchi.
90'+3'
Booking
Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal Women) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90'+3'
Post update
Foul by Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal Women).
90'+3'
Post update
Natasha Flint (Leicester City Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+2'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Frida Maanum (Arsenal Women) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
90'+1'
Post update
Offside, Arsenal Women. Frida Maanum tries a through ball, but Stephanie Catley is caught offside.
90'
Post update
Corner, Arsenal Women. Conceded by Sophie Howard.
90'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Anna Patten (Arsenal Women) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
87'
Post update
Corner, Arsenal Women. Conceded by Ashleigh Plumptre.
87'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Stephanie Catley (Arsenal Women) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
86'
Booking
Ashleigh Plumptre (Leicester City Women) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
86'
Post update
Nikita Parris (Arsenal Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
86'
Post update
Foul by Ashleigh Plumptre (Leicester City Women).
86'
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal Women. Teyah Goldie replaces Lotte Wubben-Moy.
83'
Goal!
Goal! Arsenal Women 4, Leicester City Women 0. Frida Maanum (Arsenal Women) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Stephanie Catley with a cross.
82'
Booking
Sam Tierney (Leicester City Women) is shown the yellow card.
82'
Post update
Lia Wälti (Arsenal Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
82'
Post update
Foul by Shannon O'Brien (Leicester City Women).

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