Arsenal women's player ratings vs OH Leuven: Chloe Kelly impresses on return to Gunners line up while Olivia Smith and Frida Maanum prove deadly in Champions League rout
Arsenal have one foot in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals after beating OH Leuven 4-0 in Belgium on Wednesday night. Two from Frida Maanum and goals for both Olivia Smith and Alessia Russo got the job done, moving the reigning European champions one big step closer towards a meeting with London rivals Chelsea in the last eight.There will have been a sense of deja vu among the Gunners' players and the travelling fans as they repeated a trip made less than two months ago for the final matchday of the UWCL league phase. On that occasion, Arsenal comfortably dispatched of their hosts in a 3-0 win and it was a similar story this time around, with an even better scoreline.Great work from an extremely lively Caitlin Foord helped the visitors go ahead with 22 minutes played, as her cross was headed home by Maanum, and then it was great work from Chloe Kelly on the opposite wing that created the second. The England international was making her first start for club or country since limping off in the Lionesses win over Ghana in early December but she looked sharp here, picking out Smith with a terrific cross before the Canadian matched it with an expert finish for 2-0.There were plenty of chances for Arsenal to make it 3-0 before Maanum finally did early in the second half, after Foord again ran the Leuven defence ragged, and then Alessia Russo came off the bench to get in on the act, pouncing on Smilla Holmberg's deflected delivery to give the Gunners a four-goal advantage that no one will expect them to surrender in the second leg, to be played at home next Wednesday. It means an all-English Champions League quarter-final is all-but-confirmed, with the first leg between Arsenal and Chelsea to take place in north London in late March.GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Den Dreef...Daphne van Domselaar (6/10):Didn't have much to do at all, though did make a good fingertip save to deny Bosteels in the second half.Emily Fox (6/10):Put in a solid 45-minute shift before being seemingly granted a rest when Holmberg replaced her at half-time.Leah Williamson (7/10):Showcased her excellent range of passing before going off after an hour.Laia Codina (7/10):Hasn't been used a lot this season but was dominant here, winning all six of her aerial duels to thwart any potential Leuven threat.Katie McCabe (8/10):Excellent in her defensive work, winning all five ground duels. Got forward plenty, too, and put in some great deliveries.Victoria Pelova (7/10):Another player who hasn't had too many minutes this season but it didn't look like that was the case. Slotted into midfield smoothly here and was regularly involved in Arsenal's best passing moves.Mariona Caldentey (7/10):A strong performance from the Ballon d'Or runner-up, with her ability to unlock defences putting Arsenal in good positions on several occasions. Frida Maanum (8/10):Regularly got into excellent goal-scoring positions, with her having the chances to get more than just two here. Finished well on both occasions, though, and contributed plenty to the attack in possession, too.Caitlin Foord (8/10):Caused Leuven problems all night with her direct and positive play and a consistently accurate final ball. No one created more chances. Olivia Smith (8/10):Could've had more than just the one goal but did well to get into positions for those chances and took her lone strike brilliantly. Another good performance in the No.9 role, after scoring the only goal in a shock win over Man City at the weekend. Chloe Kelly (8/10):Making her first start since early December, she looked sharp. Worked hard off the ball and caused real problems on it, most notably with the brilliant cross for Smith's goal.Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingSmilla Holmberg (7/10):Replaced Fox at half time and brought plenty of energy down the right, with her teasing cross leading to Russo's goal.Alessia Russo (7/10):Took her one and only chance after coming on just past the hour. Adjusted well to tuck it away, too.Lotte Wubben-Moy (6/10):Comfortably replaced Williamson in the back line midway through the second half, moving the ball around nicely.Kyra Cooney-Cross (N/A):Made her first appearance of the year in the closing stages, having rejoined the squad this week after some time away with her family following her mother's devastating cancer diagnosis.Kim Little (N/A):On for the final few minutes.Renee Slegers (7/10):Struck the perfect balance with her squad rotation, resting key players at an opportune moment while still maintaining match-winning chemistry in her line-up. Used her bench well as an extension of that, too.Auto translated by GOAL-e
Arsenal have one foot in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals after beating OH Leuven 4-0 in Belgium on Wednesday night. Two from Frida Maanum and goals for both Olivia Smith and Alessia Russo got the job done, moving the reigning European champions one big step closer towards a meeting with London rivals Chelsea in the last eight.There will have been a sense of deja vu among the Gunners' players and the travelling fans as they repeated a trip made less than two months ago for the final matchday of the UWCL league phase. On that occasion, Arsenal comfortably dispatched of their hosts in a 3-0 win and it was a similar story this time around, with an even better scoreline.Great work from an extremely lively Caitlin Foord helped the visitors go ahead with 22 minutes played, as her cross was headed home by Maanum, and then it was great work from Chloe Kelly on the opposite wing that created the second. The England international was making her first start for club or country since limping off in the Lionesses win over Ghana in early December but she looked sharp here, picking out Smith with a terrific cross before the Canadian matched it with an expert finish for 2-0.There were plenty of chances for Arsenal to make it 3-0 before Maanum finally did early in the second half, after Foord again ran the Leuven defence ragged, and then Alessia Russo came off the bench to get in on the act, pouncing on Smilla Holmberg's deflected delivery to give the Gunners a four-goal advantage that no one will expect them to surrender in the second leg, to be played at home next Wednesday. It means an all-English Champions League quarter-final is all-but-confirmed, with the first leg between Arsenal and Chelsea to take place in north London in late March.GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Den Dreef...Daphne van Domselaar (6/10):Didn't have much to do at all, though did make a good fingertip save to deny Bosteels in the second half.Emily Fox (6/10):Put in a solid 45-minute shift before being seemingly granted a rest when Holmberg replaced her at half-time.Leah Williamson (7/10):Showcased her excellent range of passing before going off after an hour.Laia Codina (7/10):Hasn't been used a lot this season but was dominant here, winning all six of her aerial duels to thwart any potential Leuven threat.Katie McCabe (8/10):Excellent in her defensive work, winning all five ground duels. Got forward plenty, too, and put in some great deliveries.Victoria Pelova (7/10):Another player who hasn't had too many minutes this season but it didn't look like that was the case. Slotted into midfield smoothly here and was regularly involved in Arsenal's best passing moves.Mariona Caldentey (7/10):A strong performance from the Ballon d'Or runner-up, with her ability to unlock defences putting Arsenal in good positions on several occasions. Frida Maanum (8/10):Regularly got into excellent goal-scoring positions, with her having the chances to get more than just two here. Finished well on both occasions, though, and contributed plenty to the attack in possession, too.Caitlin Foord (8/10):Caused Leuven problems all night with her direct and positive play and a consistently accurate final ball. No one created more chances. Olivia Smith (8/10):Could've had more than just the one goal but did well to get into positions for those chances and took her lone strike brilliantly. Another good performance in the No.9 role, after scoring the only goal in a shock win over Man City at the weekend. Chloe Kelly (8/10):Making her first start since early December, she looked sharp. Worked hard off the ball and caused real problems on it, most notably with the brilliant cross for Smith's goal.Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingSmilla Holmberg (7/10):Replaced Fox at half time and brought plenty of energy down the right, with her teasing cross leading to Russo's goal.Alessia Russo (7/10):Took her one and only chance after coming on just past the hour. Adjusted well to tuck it away, too.Lotte Wubben-Moy (6/10):Comfortably replaced Williamson in the back line midway through the second half, moving the ball around nicely.Kyra Cooney-Cross (N/A):Made her first appearance of the year in the closing stages, having rejoined the squad this week after some time away with her family following her mother's devastating cancer diagnosis.Kim Little (N/A):On for the final few minutes.Renee Slegers (7/10):Struck the perfect balance with her squad rotation, resting key players at an opportune moment while still maintaining match-winning chemistry in her line-up. Used her bench well as an extension of that, too.Auto translated by GOAL-e
