Women 4 - 0 BK Häcken - Match Report

Post-Match Report

We have officially booked our place in the UEFA Women's Champions League with a 4-0 victory over BK Hacken.

Goals from Lia Walti, Mariona Caldentey, Beth Mead and Frida Maanum capped off a brilliant performance at Meadow Park, as we overcame a first leg deficit in style.

Jonas Eidevall made three changes to the weekend’s starting XI, bringing in Lia Walti, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo.

The first shot on target came after a short Arsenal attack. Hacken cleared Emily Fox’s cross only as far as Mariona Caldentey who let fly and forced a comfortable save from the goalkeeper.

Mariona was instrumental in our next chance, clipping a ball through to Beth Mead in the box, but the Hacken keeper managed to block from close range.

After sustained pressure, our eventual breakthrough would come from an unlikely source. Lia Walti struck with a beautiful first-time shot from range that clipped the crossbar and went in to level the tie on aggregate. 

Buoyed by the breakthrough, we upped the energy throughout the first half in search of that all-important second goal. 

We found that through Mariona, who bagged her debut Arsenal goal with a close range tap-in and we headed into half-time on top.

As the second 45 kicked off, it was time for a vintage Beth Mead moment. Our number 9 controlled the ball in the air, juggling through Hacken defenders to set up her own glorious volley. 3-0 to the Arsenal. 

Player of the Match Lia Walti was then subbed off for Kyra Cooney-Cross, with Frida Maanum and Caitlin Foord also entering the fray. 

The substitutes combined beautifully for our fourth after Cooney-Cross drove through the middle of the park and laid the ball off to her Aussie teammate, Caitlin Foord. Foord, in turn, cut back perfectly to Frida Maanum who thumped the ball into the back of the net and decisively put the game to bed. 

We’ll soon know our next European opponents. The UWCL group stage draw takes place in Nyon, Switzerland at 12pm (UK) and will be streamed live on UEFA.com.