Head coach Renee Slegers hailed the endeavour of her Arsenal players after they were reduced to ten against Manchester United.
Olivia Smith’s second-half red card meant the Gunners had to try to come from behind without a full complement of players.
And despite creating chances they could not convert any of them, losing 1-0 and missing out on the Subway Women’s League Cup final.
“I think we started the game really well,” Slegers told the club’s official website. “I think we dominated most parts of the game, even without Liv on the pitch, with one player down. The story of the game, it’s about moments that make a really big impact. And then it’s us progressing the ball really well into their area.”
Agreeing with captain Lotte Wubben-Moy that the team were struggling a little when it comes to goalscoring, Slegers went on: “We just don’t get the goal so easily at the moment, so we’re working really hard to make that happen. But there are so many things we do so well. The one piece that’s missing at the moment is being clinical in and around the box.”
Renee Slegers: You have to reorganise the team after a red card
And Slegers also talked about how the sending-off of Smith affected the team’s tactics.
“You have to reorganise the team and you have to play a little bit differently when you go down to 10. But I think the players did that so well, because you’re a player down and the way we defended, the way we pressed them, we were player for player even. Players ended up in 1-v-2 situations and could press two players. They did so well and they invested absolutely everything.
“We were still creating good chances with a player down, so that was brilliant. I think the way we set it up, the players executed it – that was really good. But yeah, of course, that’s hard if you’re 1-0 down and you’re one player down as well. But we should have capitalised on chances earlier in the game.”
