Photograph: TGSPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
That’s all for today – thanks so much for joining me for what was an excellent couple of hours’ WSL. Plenty more going on today, and if you’d like a fix of the men’s game then join Bryan Armen Graham below for Man City v Southampton. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and bye for now!
Nobbs speaks: “Birmingham have been one of the toughest teams we’ve faced. We had to challenge ourselves and have shown where we want to be. I think the manager was quite angry with us at half-time and we took what he said on board.”
Van de Donk too: “I’m just happy we won, it doesn’t matter who takes the penalty, it went in. We’re all just linking up a bit better than we did before.”
Something is stirring in the division below:
FT: #MUWomen 4 Tottenham 1.
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 4, 2018
United win after goals from @laurenjamess22, @jessSigsworth5 (x2) and @charliedevlin98. The unbeaten run continues 💪. #MUWomen pic.twitter.com/d9agYFuiQ8
Arsenal came through in style there, although Birmingham gave them a heck of a run for their money and – certainly for their first hour’s work – deserved a point. Blues will rue some sloppy defending for the first two goals. The hosts will thank the excellent Nobbs, who has such a marvellous eye for driving runs from deep, and will consider one of their biggest challenges ticked off for the season.
Full-time: Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham
They’re perhaps a touch flattered by it, but that’s a huge result for the leaders – who maintain their 100% record and look very hard to stop!
Goal! Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham (Nobbs 90+4 min)
Oh that’s a lovely goal. Arsenal have had all sorts of space on the right in the last few minutes and it’s the impressive Evans, who has some engine, motoring down there before clipping across for Nobbs, who finishes brilliantly on the run. She sweeps it beyond Berger and that’s game over.
90+3 min: Miedema heads harmlessly to Berger, to the chagrin of a team-mate behind her who was lining up the volley. It seems as if Arsenal will see this out in relative comfort.
90+1 min: We’ll have five added minutes here ...
90 min: And Mead is replaced by Kemme, the German international, for her debut. She’s an outstanding player and her bow has only been delayed by a long-term knee injury.
89 min: A hold-up, here, with the tireless Mead down for I think the third time in the game.
87 min: It’s surprisingly open given the game’s situation ... is there something else in this for Birmingham? They’d more than deserve it.
85 min: Last throw of the dice for Birmingham? Mayling goes off and on comes another forward, the 18-year-old Shania Hayles.
83 min: Ouch, that’s a yellow card for Staniforth after she barges Evans into the advertising hoarding after being beaten to a long ball down the right. It was probably a good foul to make but a rather clumsy and painful one.
81 min: A first attack from Birmingham since that second goal, really, and they earn a flag kick through Arthur. Staniforth’s delivery is good but Harrop can’t get a full head on it and eventually the ball skids behind.
79 min: Berger receives a backpass on her own goal line and if Van de Donk gets a challenge in she probably scores! Not for the first time Berger gets out of of it, at the expense of a corner. Samuelsson replaces McCabe for the hosts before it’s taken, ultimately coming to nought.
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76 min: Yes, off comes the goalscorer Emma Follis and on comes Lucy Quinn. Can she add that extra little bit of vim and freshness up top?
75 min: No sign of a response from the away side yet. Their earlier vigour has just dulled a bit; I’m not entirely surprised. Think a substitution is on the way ...
73 min: The scorer Van de Donk, very much in the wars and not short of a sharp word or two, wins a free-kick from Staniforth on the right. It’s been a fair old battle between those two in this half. Nobbs delivers and the result is an Arsenal corner, but there’s a foul in there as McCabe crosses.
70 min: What have Birmingham got now? They’re far from out of it but you’d sense it is some ask for them to come back again.
Goal! Arsenal 2-1 Birmingham (Van de Donk 67 pen)
Consummately converted, sent to one side with Berger – who doesn’t even dive once she realises she’s set incorrectly – committed to the other. Can they hold onto it this time?
Penalty to Arsenal!
No doubt about this one. Evans works her way in from the right flank and Mannion hauls her down. The Gunners have a chance to go back ahead ...
66 min: Ohhhh, Follis gets away down the right again but undercooks her cutback with Mayling racing into get involved. Mitchell gets it away. Right down the other end and Berger is out bravely to charge down from Miedema after the striker tricks through towards the byline. Then Miedema’s header is cleared off the line by, I think, Arthur under the crossbar. What a game this is now!
62 min: Van de Donk wants a penalty under Scofield’s challenge but I’m not sure the defender did much wrong there. It’s really hotting up now.
Goal! Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham (Follis 60)
My word! They’re level instantly! Arsenal completely fall asleep as Birmingham aim a diagonal towards Follis, who is running in behind her full-back on the right flank. She’s at a tight angle but finishes beautifully, keeping her composure to slip the ball past Peyraud-Magnin and into the far corner. Arsenal, so jubilant seconds ago, are stunned and what a game we have now.
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Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Birmingham (Nobbs 59)
It was coming, on the basis of the last few minutes, but it arose from a predictable source. It’s another loose square pass across the back from Birmingham, and the ball is quickly spirited through to Nobbs, who runs through and makes no mistake! Arsenal are on their way – but hold on ... !
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58 min: Another save from Berger! It’s Mead, doing really well again on the left, who frees herself from her marker and drills towards goal from an angle. Berger parries and then grabs with Miedema waiting. But then ...
57 min: Now Van de Donk wriggles to the line and Scofield is relieved that her inadvertent intervention rolls into Berger’s arms rather than the net.
56 min: Chance for Nobbs! She knows how to gobble those up but this time, from Mead’s cutback, she sidefoots towards goal from 10 yards and sees Berger save gratefully. That was probably the best opportunity of the game. Birmingham then calm things down with a free-kick as Arsenal look to come again.
55 min: One consequence of Arsenal looking to push on in this half appears to be that Birmingham are finding quite a lot of space. A couple of times already they’ve been one final ball away from a clear chance.
54 min: Harrop finds acres of space on the left after Arsenal seem to leave the ball to each other. But she wastes the position, standing up a harmless ball that Peyraud-Magnin rises to catch. Then there’s some anger, Van de Donk getting heavily involved, after a poor challenge on Mead from Scott. It actually seemed more like Scott fell onto her after they tangled. Mead is taking some treatment and should be OK.
50 min: But now Birmingham win a corner after getting Arsenal 4 v 4 on the break. It’s an open start to the second half. Staniforth aims it deep but Peyraud-Magnin claims well.
49 min: Miedema heads over, perhaps having seen the ball late, and Arsenal have started with their full-backs high up the pitch, brimful of intent.
48 min: Van de Donk has a shot deflected after a very smart run in behind, and lay-off, from Nobbs. I think Nobbs has been Arsenal’s best player so far. Her corner causes some mild consternation but Birmingham sort it out eventually.
Ivan Gazidis in the crowd today...
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) November 4, 2018
He can’t stay away!
Peeeeep! Back underway
Birmingham huddle together and finish with a loud cry. Arsenal, rather less noisy, kick off.
Ok, they’re back out for the second half here. Very big 45 ahead ...
In that big Championship game, second-placed Manchester United are beating the leaders Spurs 3-0! There’s around half an hour to go.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Birmingham
The away team will be happy. They were the better team for half an hour, not just looking to stop Arsenal but playing some good football too. Arsenal rallied a little after that and Nobbs forced one good save from Berger, but overall I’d put Birmingham ahead on points at the break. Can they turn it into all three? Find out in 15 minutes – and let me know what *you* think.
45 min: Nearly a curse, there, because more over-ambitious passing in their defence sets Miedema off into the box. Her effort is charged down, and I wonder if she might actually have done better there.
44 min: Birmingham appear to have emerged from that Arsenal squall and look set fair to go in goalless at the interval.
42 min: Follis is given a ticking-off for an over-eager tackle on Van de Donk. But after those early few minutes, incidences of scrappy fouling have been quite rare. Birmingham have looked bright and positive.
39 min: Miedema could perhaps throw herself at another right-sided cross, but instead it races across the box. Birmingham are starting to get caught a few too many times in playing from the back.
37 min: It’s drilled in by McCabe but fielded well. Evans picks the ball up and makes a slaloming run into the box but can’t pick out Miedema. Then Miedema gets half a sight on the edge of the box and her shot it blocked. Some heavy Arsenal pressure in the last seven or eight minutes.
36 min: Wellings fluffs a pass that would have sent Follis clear. Birmingham’s threat certainly remains. But now Miedema wins a corner at the other end ...
35 min: Now a Nobbs cross rolls just beyond Van de Donk. They certainly seem to be stirring ...
34 min: Arsenal are enjoying their best spell and McCabe’s cross is defended excellently by Harrop at the back post with home players lurking.
33 min: I wonder, are Arsenal struggling here because it’s one thing beating the lower WSL teams – who largely seem pretty weak – and quite a leap when you step up to play opponents like Birmingham? Is the gap between top and bottom, standard-wise, in the division still an issue? I’m asking, I don’t know for sure.
30 min: Arsenal wake up and Nobbs, taking aim from 18 yards, draws a very good save down to her right from Berger! She tips it round the post and, after the corner is half-cleared, holds a follow-up effort from the same player. More like it from the leaders!
29 min: You just wonder whether Birmingham could do with scoring this side of half-time. I can’t imagine Arsenal being this low in intensity for 90 minutes. Currently Birmingham are first to everything and playing some slick football, too.
26 min: Another vital challenge on Wellings from Mitchell! The Birmingham forward might do better there as she latches onto a ball over the top and, with Peyraud-Magnin’s positioning questionable, could perhaps go for the lob. But the ball doesn’t quite sit up and, although there’s still a chance to slot the ball home, Mitchell shows superb recovery for a second time. There’s a muted appeal for a spot kick as she falls on the ball – but not sure there was much hand contact there.
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23 min: Arsenal try and work something around the Birmingham box via Nobbs, but it’s still Birmingham broadly controlling this and allowing them no time on the ball whatsoever.
20 min: Big block from Mitchell! Sloppy play from the hosts in midfield allows Wellings to run clear in the inside-right channel but the Arsenal player recovers superbly as she pulls the trigger. Best chance so far!
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19 min: Mitchell aims a diagonal ball just beyond the onrunning Miedema, the first time really that Arsenal have threatened to carve any kind of opening.
17 min: Nobbs tries to force an error from Mannion, with Birmingham’s back line again not afraid to try and play out, but her foe remains composed. Skinner’s side have been marginally the better so far.
15 min: Arsenal have, in the last couple of minutes, been pegged in by both of their corner flags. Mannion eventually floats a cross to Peyraud-Magnin but it’s more evidence that Birmingham are turning up here.
13 min: The away side will be very happy with how this has started. They look solid, composed, compact and have actually had a fair bit of the ball. But we know Arsenal are able to go through the gears ...
10 min: Birmingham get players over on a promising counter and Follis is slightly harshly, perhaps, penalised for a foul as she looks to take on her opponent and run into the Arsenal box.
9 min: Good crowd at Meadow Park, which is of course Arsenal’s long-term home. They’ve done a really commendable job in building their women’s fanbase over the years. Those supporters “oooh” as the Birmingham keeper, Berger, gets herself out of danger with a perilous but perfectly-executed turn inside her own box.
7 min: Arsenal are yet to get much going although they’ve seized on a couple of loose bits of Birmingham possession at the back, Miedema intercepting one throw-in but unable to make anything of it.
5 min: Birmingham are opting to press Arsenal high in possession. They’ve had joy playing this way, holding Chelsea and losing only 3-2 to Manchester City. The early signs are that this will be tight.
3 min: They’re looking feisty too, Mead felled by a hard early challenge from which she takes time to get up. That’s followed by another niggly foul and I wonder if that’s part of the gameplan. McCabe fires over from range for Arsenal in their first salvo.
2 min: Birmingham, in yellow shirts and blue shorts, enjoy some good early time on the ball and that might settle them in nicely.
Peeeeeep! Off we go!
Big afternoon, this. Both teams have some big players missing – Ellen White for Birmingham is a significant miss against her old club, while Arsenal can probably cover for the injuries to Kim Little and Danielle Carter among others. How will they fare?
A minute’s silence, first, for Remembrance Sunday and those who lost their lives in the Leicester helicopter crash.
Yes, Kemme is an exceptional player they’ve signed from Turbine Potsdam. Arsenal get stronger and stronger. She’s on the bench today. Meantime, the players are out and lining up ...
@NickAmes82 It'll be interesting to see where Tabea Kemme fits in to the side, if she does come on for her debut today. Regardless it's nice to see a full Arsenal bench for the first time this season!
— Buy 🎶 Party For One🎶 on iTunes! ⚔️🗡️ (@jamesv_t) November 4, 2018
Skinner speaks too: “If you want to challenge yourselves you’ve got to do that against teams like Arsenal today. And you can’t just defend for 90 minutes. We have to make them aware of us and I’m sure if we do that they’ll be in for a tough game today.”
“I think today is really going to define where we’re at, an amazing test,” says Montemurro. He’s clearly going to have his players bang up for this.
Talking of Miedema – and this is not a one-woman team but she is the obvious star at the moment – this was a good interview with her last year by Jacob Steinberg:
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They’re limbering up at Boreham Wood. It’s a bit of a blast from the past seeing Arsenal flying so high – a decade back they were absolutely untouchable. It’s a good thing they’ve been reined in because it means we have a really competitive league now, but it’s also a real pleasure to watch the team they have out there now.
Warm-ups ✅#WeAreTheArsenal 🔴 pic.twitter.com/AsCNx9Pn3s
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) November 4, 2018
There are plenty of other games going on today. Liverpool host Manchester City at 2pm in what is the pick of them, City really needing the win to keep up with Arsenal having played a game more. In the Championship, Manchester United and Tottenham are facing off *right now* in a top-of-the-table clash!
Team news
Arsenal: Peyraud-Magnin, Evans, Williamson, Quinn, Mitchell, Walti, van de Donk, Nobbs, McCabe, Mead, Miedema. Subs: Van Veenendaal, Bloodworth, Samuelsson, Kuyken, Kemme.
Birmingham: Berger, Arthur, Harrop, Mannion, Sargeant, Scofield, Scott, Staniforth, Mayling, Wellings, Follis. Subs: Hampton, Hayles, Williams, Quinn.
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Hello
Can anyone stop Arsenal? It doesn’t really look that way but if anyone can then it may well be Birmingham. That’s what makes this an absolutely huge game in this season’s WSL calendar – Joe Montemurro’s Gunners sit five points clear of Marc Skinner’s Blues and boast a 100% record, thanks in no small part to the awesome firepower provided by Vivianne Miedema. She’s scoring at a rate of 49 minutes per goal! But if Birmingham can subdue her today and steal the points then the title race starts to get very interesting indeed.
Don’t expect an all-singing, all-dancing performance from the away side – they’ve scored six in six games while Arsenal have bagged 31 (THIRTY-ONE) – but they’re excellent at keeping things tight and could quickly turn this into an awkward lunchtime for the hosts. And if Arsenal to run away with it then the clamour to crown them champions-elect will simply grow louder.
All to play for, then, with kick-off at 12.30pm UK time. Stay close, and send in your tweets and emails!
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