Olivia Smith scored a stunning goal on her Arsenal debut as the champions of Europe got their Women’s Super League campaign off to a winning start – beating much-touted London City Lionesses 4-1 in front of a crowd of 38,142 at the Emirates Stadium.
The Canada international was named player of the match for her performance that included a wonderful strike as she cut in from the left and then lashed home from outside the box.
“That’s the kind of goal I want to score – any time I see an inch of space I want to go for goal,” Smith said to the BBC afterwards. “It was a very special moment for me.”
Arsenal had gone one down after 17 minutes after Katie Reid brought down Kosovare Asllani, who converted the subsequent penalty, hitting it low to Daphne van Domselaar’s left to score the newly-promoted side’s first-ever goal in the top tier.
But Smith got the Gunners back on level terms before Chloe Kelly slotted home in first-half added time.
Smith was then substituted after an hour alongside Victoria Pelova, with the pair replaced by Caitlin Foord and Frida Maanum.
Stina Blackstenius added a third late on, with Maanum nodding home less than two minutes later – both assisted by Beth Mead.
Olivia Smith: I want to win things
21-year-old Smith signed for Arsenal this summer, becoming the first female player to be transferred for £1million when she moved from Liverpool in July.
She said at the time that she believed her price tag to be “an honour”, adding: “To come with such a hefty price tag for such a young player like me shows they see the potential I have and my mindset.
“I’m hungry, I’m driven, I want to learn, I want to grow and I want to win things.”
The record transfer fee was then broken by Lizbeth Ovalle’s move to Orlando Pride, and subsequently London City Lionesses’ acquisition of Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain.
Smith is the newly-crowned PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year. She made her senior international debut for Canada at the age of just 15 in November 2019 when she came on as a substitute against Brazil.
“Olivia Smith is very talented” – Slegers
Head coach Renee Slegers had said of Smith in her pre-match press conference: “Of course, we’re very proud of the way we play our football and it’s very important to us. Also, it needs to be very purposeful, and it needs to lead to the wins, that’s why we play and that’s the case when you represent Arsenal.
“What we think is that Olivia can add to that. She can add new layers to our game. She’s very talented.
“There’s so much potential and she’s shown a lot of that last season in the WSL, which is very impressive, coming to the WSL and performing like that because it’s one of the hardest leagues in the world, in Europe. We see all the potential and she’s going to add something new to us. We’re so very proud that she’s with us now.”
