Read Suzanne Wrack’s report
That'll do for today
Thanks for joining me! Arsenal go six points clear and look very hard to stop. Once again, all the best to Jordan Nobbs for a quick recovery from that injury.
Now join Rob Smyth for England v Croatia, where England are on top but it’s goalless:
Beth Mead speaks: “It wasn’t a perfect performance, we go a little frustrated in the first half. Everton put bodies on the line. But once again we got the win. I think we know we’ve got the quality to create chances and that’s key, teams are defending well against us. I think if you told us [we’d be in this position] at the start of the season we’d have bitten your hand off. We’re working really hard, we’ve got the transition right with Joe and are really enjoying playing for him.”
Full-time: Everton 0-4 Arsenal
Arsenal march on. That was straightforward once the first goal went in, just before half-time, and although Everton had some good chances for a consolation this was eventually a comfortable lunchtime’s work for the leaders. Now their attentions will turn to the health of Nobbs, who was stretchered off near the end with what looked a nasty injury. Fingers crossed it was more of a precaution.
90+3 min: The bright Bailey-Gayle earns a late corner. Arsenal eventually work it short to Miedema, who finds space at an angle and flashes the ball across. It’s cleared.
90+1 min: Everton win a free-kick 25 yards out and sense their consolation. Kelly strikes it well enough, whipping it over and round, but Van Veenendaal is positioned to catch.
90 min: Five added minutes will be played, most of that down to the Nobbs injury. Bailey-Gayle directs a Miedema ball wide as she seeks a debut goal.
89 min: Arsenal look like a team that want to get off, now. Presumably they just want to check on Nobbs. Grant, their sub, has a cross-shot smothered by Levell but I suspect the scoring is over.
86 min: Hughes, the Everton substitute, spins and shoots narrowly wide of the near post. I’d say they deserve a goal for their endeavours today.
85 min: I think everyone out there would gladly hear the whistle now.
82 min: Nobbs is stretchered off, to huge applause, and we wish her all the best – it would be really bad for her and Arsenal if that is serious, she’s a marvellous player and a huge influence. Ruby Grant comes on in her place.
81 min: I have to say this looks bad for Nobbs. There are a couple of heads in hands, the stretcher is on, oxygen is on hand just in case, and let’s hope this is not as serious as it might be.
79 min: Nobbs is in some pain, enough to have her thumping the ground in agony and Montemurro rising anxiously from the bench. She threw herself into a tackle, won the ball but seemingly came out worse ...
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76 min: Another chance for Everton there, Walker flashing a first-time shot over from a good position after James does well down the right. They’ve looked decent when they’ve had the chance to attack and, as I’ve said, should have scored in this half. Paige Bailey-Gayle now comes on for Arsenal, making her debut, in Van de Donk’s place.
75 min: There’s another goal or two in this if Arsenal want them, although they’ve just come off the international break, remember, and there’s a definite sense of winding down now.
72 min: And another Everton change, Cain going off and Elise Hughes taking her place.
71 min: Off comes Mitchell for Arsenal, on comes young Ava Kuyken.
69 min: Oh, Cain should get one back there though! A fine ball over the top sends her running through and there’s *lots* of time to get her shot away but she doesn’t seem to be able to make up her mind to do it, allowing Van Veenendaal to come out and gather. For all the ease of Arsenal’s win here, Everton could and should have got two goals for themselves in this half.
68 min: The similarity between Arsenal and the Man City men’s team isn’t confined to the sky blue shirts. It’s hard to see who can live with them.
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Goal! Everton 0-4 Arsenal (Miedema 65)
The ever-prolific Miedema makes it four, Nobbs pulling the ball back to her perfectly from the right byline and the finish, lashed first-time and low, absolutely unerring. Not a lot had happened in the previous 10 minutes but when Arsenal crank it up they can score pretty much at will here, I think.
63 min: Kelly gets a yellow card for fouling Van de Donk. I think that’s our first card of the day.
60 min: George is down after being clipped in the middle, possibly with a cut to the face, but I think she’ll be OK. In general the tempo has decreased since the third goal.
57 min: Everton replace Kaagman with Claudia Walker.
55 min: Levell makes another stop now, tipping a long-distance effort around the post.
Here’s that Levell save – the one where she tipped Miedema’s header onto the bar – from the first half:
Eat, sleep, save, repeat 🧤@kirstielevell97, that is quite magnificent 👏#FAWSL @EvertonLadies pic.twitter.com/YXFwIV3g13
— The FA Women's Super League (@FAWSL) November 18, 2018
54 min: Cain has a chance to make things more interesting, running through and lashing over from 15 yards when she should probably score. Arsenal can’t fall asleep quite yet.
53 min: Everton will want the whistle now. They’ve got to wait about 40 minutes though and it’s a shame for them. Arsenal have come out since half-time like a train.
Goal! Everton 0-3 Arsenal (Miedema 50)
Yes, it’s getting messy. Miedema doesn’t miss these. A poor defensive pass rebounds off Mead and the striker has second-guessed it, going face to face with Levell and slotting home. It’s now a case of “how many?”.
Goal! Everton 0-2 Arsenal (Nobbs 49)
Third time lucky for Nobbs. Mead makes ground down the right, lays the ball across and Miedema intelligently cushions it back for Nobbs. She takes her time, works the shooting position, and finishes with ease. The concern for Everton is that this could get messy quite quickly now.
48 min: Heavy Arsenal pressure so far but Nobbs, under the attentions of George, heads a long way wide from McCabe’s cross.
46 min: Nobbs shoots wide after a scurrying Van de Donk run. One more goal for Arsenal would put this to bed, I think we can say.
Peeeeep!
Arsenal get us underway for the second 45.
Back out for the second half in a couple of minutes. Can Everton stay in this?
Apparently England’s men are taking on Croatia shortly. Who knew? If you fancy keeping tabs on that as well then join Rob Smyth:
Half-time: Everton 0-1 Arsenal
Levell shakes her head as she leaves the field. She has put in an absolutely sensational – I don’t say that lightly – display in goal for Everton but was beaten in the dying moments of the half and now it’s hard to see past Arsenal pulling away here. Everton have done well, flickering once or twice in attack too, but you feel there’s a huge difference here between going in at half-time goalless and a goal down. Unfortunately for them it’s to be the latter.
Goal! Everton 0-1 Arsenal (Van de Donk 44)
They can’t, and what a shame for them and Levell. But it had been coming in the last few minutes and when Miedema’s shot from the edge of the box is blocked, it falls nicely for an unmarked Van de Donk on the left. She hammers emphatically into the roof of the net, giving the keeper no chance at all here, and now the complexion of the game has completely changed.
44 min: This is incredible! Levell has just bettered her last stop with a quite brilliant save from Miedema, who rises at the far post and aims a header towards the top corner, only for the keeper to somehow flip it onto the underside of the bar! Can Everton hold on til the break? Well ...
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41 min: How do Everton survive there? Van de Donk advances on goal in the right of the box, pulls the ball back to Miedema and that’s surely 1-0 ... but it’s blocked on the line by a quite incredible intervention from – I think – George. Then Levell makes her best save of the afternoon as Arsenal keep the pressure on – McCabe, again, takes aim from 10 yards and the goalkeeper makes a quite thrilling acrobatic stop. She’s been a star in this half – hasn’t put a foot or a glove wrong.
38 min: George now does well at the other end, rampaging down the left and crossing for Magill, who heads the ball up into the air and is rather surprisingly given time to volley towards goal when it comes down. She doesn’t catch it too well and Van Veenendaal saves comfortably, but it’s another warning shot.
37 min: It’s not particularly happening at the moment for Arsenal. George, the home defender, is playing well and stops the relatively quiet Van de Donk reaching a ball down the right. Van de Donk had, moments earlier, been mightily unimpressed by a meaty challenge from Finnigan that felled her in full flight.
34 min: It’s an agreeable game to watch so far. Everton are playing well, even if they’ve only got forward a couple of times to any real effect, and we definitely have a contest on our hands at the moment.
32 min: Van de Donk goes for a cheeky backheeled goal after Mead, Arsenal’s best attacking outlet so far, pulls the ball back yet again. Levell, again sharp, dives to her left and smothers.
30 min: Arsenal should probably be ahead, but that most recent chance was the first they’ve really had since that flurry in the first 10 minutes. Just as against Birmingham, they haven’t really found their stride yet.
27 min: Fine save from Levell! She’s excelled there. Mead, such a threat on the left, again makes space and cuts the ball back for McCabe, who looks certain to score but hasn’t reckoned on the goalkeeper getting swiftly across to block her first-time effort with a foot.
24 min: Another Arsenal corner is floated towards the goal, this time from the left and I think from Mitchell, but clips the bar and goes over. Then Miedema gets away for a moment and wants a penalty as she goes down, but the challenge on her – I didn’t see who by – was fair.
22 min: Good link-up play between Cain and Magill, who both look tidy when they get a bit of the ball, almost sends the latter bundling through on the left but she runs out of room.
20 min: The home team have everyone behind the ball when Arsenal take possession. It’s working so far but it’s difficult, at this stage, to see such an approach last for 90 minutes.
17 min: Levell, who has started well, stretches to paw out a corner from Nobbs, which is swung under the crossbar.
16 min: Everton have steadied things a little here. It’s the kind of game an unfancied team might approach in chunks. Draw the first 15 minutes, make it to 30 minutes, see it out to 45 minutes. They’ve done the first of those.
13 min: Now Everton show and go close themselves. Cain takes possession just inside the box after good work on the left from Magill, creates space and then sees a shot deflected *just* wide of Van Veenendaal’s post. From the corner, Boye-Hlorkah can’t get quite enough on a header. Encouragement there for the underdogs.
10 min: Levell saves for a third time, clawing away an awkwardly bouncing Nobbs cross that flicks off a home defender. Then Miedema jabs out a leg onto Mead’s latest delivery and snicks it wide. You’d think a goal will come for Arsenal soon enough.
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9 min: Everton’s main trick is to try and catch Arsenal out with long, direct balls over the top. But the away side haven’t made the mistake of pushing up too high just yet, so there’s been little chance of it paying off so far.
6 min: And another chance for Nobbs, a bigger one really. Mead tricks to the line down the left, creates half a yard and drills in a cross that Levell pushes away. Nobbs is lurking but, perhaps a touch off balances, slices well wide from 10 yards. She tends to put those away – it’s a let-off for Everton.
4 min: And they’ve just created their first chance, Nobbs making a trademark burst into the box and meeting Miedema’s pass, forcing Levell to tip a low drive around the post.
3 min: A scrappy start, here, although Arsenal are dominating possession and it’s hard to see much of this game taking place in their half.
1 min: Arsenal are playing, perplexingly, in sky blue. What’s wrong with red, here? Hard to think it’s a commercial decision or – if it is – what the exact point of that would be.
Peeeeeeep!
Everton kick us off. We’re underway!
The players are on their way out, on this beautiful, sunny autumnal afternoon – Z Cars is playing and kick-off is moments away ...
Everton are under the caretaker charge of Jennifer Herst today, and she says they’re “going to have to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way”. She admits it’s been an “emotional” fortnight or so since Andy Spence, their long-serving manager, departed in surprising circumstances. Will they be a wounded beast here in Southport?
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If there are any Everton fans reading, I’d love to know why your team has tailed off in recent times. Write in to the address above! And Arsenal supporters – Joe Montemurro seems to be recreating the days of the great Vic Akers, doesn’t he, or is that premature? Tell us.
Who should we look out for from Everton? Well, Chloe Kelly is a very talented forward and an ex-Arsenal player, too. She is just 20 and joined the Toffees in the summer after a couple of loan spells during which she scored impressively. She also featured for England against Austria during the international break, so her star is rising pretty quickly. Inessa Kaagman, the former Ajax midfielder, is another one to watch. Arsenal may be stacked with Dutch talent but they don’t have a monopoly on it!
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Today's teams
Everton: Levell, Bryson, Brougham, George, Boye-Hlorkah, Kaagman, Magill, Kelly, James, Cain, Finnigan. Subs: Flaherty, Walker, Hinds, Bruinenberg, Hughes.
Arsenal: Van Veenendaal, Williamson, Quinn, Mitchell, Bloodworth, Walti, van de Donk, Nobbs, McCabe, Mead, Miedema. Subs: Peyraud-Magnin, Kuyken, Grant, Bailey-Gayle, Evans.
Today’s other fixtures all begin at 2pm. Birmingham host West Ham, Reading travel to Brighton and Chelsea face Yeovil at home. Manchester City, three points behind Arsenal having played a game more, are not in action this weekend – meaning it’s effectively Arsenal’s game in hand and a huge opportunity to open up a big lead at the top.
Team news coming when I’ve got it, which isn’t yet. These two last met in April in a dramatic FA Cup semi-final – Louise Quinn winning it 2-1 for Arsenal with a dramatic stoppage-time goal. More drama on the cards today?
Hello
Back down to brass tacks in the WSL, then, and it’s our latest meeting with the league’s irresistible force. You might remember that a fortnight ago we met, you and I, to digest Arsenal’s 3-1 win over a Birmingham side that probably deserved better on the day. The Gunners weren’t at their best but still, like all the greatest teams, ploughed on and came good – making it seven wins from seven and, at this stage, a seemingly unstoppable charge towards the title.
Same again today? On paper yes, no problem. Everton have bloodied Arsenal’s noses more than once in the past and used to be credible contenders up at the top. Not anymore: they are, as the saying goes, rock bottom with just two points from six games and need to start picking up points quickly. They’ve only scored four times, the fewest in the league, and most of those came in a single 3-3 draw with Brighton.
So on paper it looks like a profitable trip to the north-west for Arsenal. But football matches take place on grass! So let’s see how this one pans out – get your emails and tweets flooding in, and I’ll be back with more build-up as kick-off nears.
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