Righto, that’ll be us. Thanks for your company – enjoy the rest of your night. I’ll leave you with Suzanne Wrack’s match report …
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Arsenal look a serious outfit, they really do. Barca look a class above, it’s true, but Arsenal look a class above the rest and have plenty of room for improvement. The only fear I have for them is that they’ve got so many good players, it might be hard for Jonas Eidevall to pick the right team for the biggest games, but that’s a pretty good fear to have.
Full-time: Koge 1-5 Arsenal
Five different scorers in a dominant Arsenal display; they now sit on six points, with Barca on nine, Hoffenheim on three and Koge on none.
90+3 min ...and Miedema curls over the top.
90+3 min Miedema collects the ball on the edge of the box and Hornemann barges her over; free-kick Arsenal, 20 yards out, left of centre...
90+1 min I wonder at what point the WSL becomes like the Premier League, with the money and style of play attracting most of the best players and most of the best managers. Obviously Barca and Lyon are serious factors, but I’d not be surprised if the English clubs were soon the best in the world.
90 min There’ll be three added minutes.
90 min Koge send on Hornemann for Faerge.
GOAL! Koge 1-5 Arsenal (Nobbs 89)
Nobbs has earnt that. Foord spreads play from left to right, and though Mead leaves it behind, she manages to knock it back to Nobbs, on the right of the box, and she despatches an expert’s finish into the far corner.
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88 min Out on the left, Floe backs into Patten, who keeps shoving her. Floe gets all indignant, but there’s nothing in it.
87 min Arsenal have done really well to keep creating. Obviously there’s a major class differential, but it would’ve been easy for them to just knock it along the back four. Instead, they’ve punished tired opponents and allowed two players in need of a goal to get one.
GOAL! Koge 1-4 Arsenal (Patten 85)
This is terrific from Arsenal, Little hitting the keeper’s foot when through and her teammates sustaining the attack, finding Foord down the left. She hits the line, cuts back, and Patten floats a fine finish if it’s a chip, a spawny one if it’s a mishit, into the far side-netting. halfway up.
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83 min Elsewhere, Barcelona lead Hoffenheim 4-0; if the visitors can keep it to that, they’ll probably consider it a respectable result. After this, it’s Benfica v Hacken and Lyon v Bayern, which I believe was Bob Marley’s favourite fixture.
81 min Koge send on Romero and Kramer for Pokorny and Markvardsen.
80 min Koge have barely contested midfield tonight, allowing Arsenal to dictate and hoping to smother them by sheer weight of numbers in the box. It doesn’t work often, and it’s not worked here.
79 min More possession from Arsenal, Walti and Nobbs controlling midfield before Svendsen humps away a ball intended for Miedema.
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78 min Ah, apologies – a minute or two ago, Koge sent on Ostenfeld for Sajewich.
78 min Deep that insight. That’s why they pay me the big bucks.
77 min More possession for Arsenal, who won’t want to concede another.
75 min On which point, I’ve not a clue what Eidevall’s first XI is. Tobin Heath isn’t even here today!
74 min Catley will be steaming with herself, but that ricket aside, she’s played really well – though it’ll take some effort to tax McCabe’s starting place.
73 min Arsenal send on Patten and McCabe for Maritz and Catley.
GOAL! Koge 1-3 Arsenal (Pokorny 72)
This is a catalogue of disaster! Marckese hammers clear and Catley undercooks a backpass, Porkorny taking it on and breezing past Williamson, who’s challenge is weak. Williams comes out, but Porkorny holds her nerve and does her with the eyes, opening her body like she’s going right before slipping left.
71 min Arsenal are well-worth their lead. They’ve dominated almost every minute and Marckese has had a brilliant game to keep it social.
GOAL! Koge 0-3 Arsenal (Foord 68)
This is over now! Little wriggles to the edge of the box, eluding two challenges before changing the focus of the attack with a clever little offload to Nobbs, who opens her body and, from the edge, curls onto the bar. Foord, though, is on-hand to time her leap, heading home into the empty net.
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68 min You can read the full piece here. Credit to Arsenal, the way they treat their women’s team is a lesson for pretty much everyone else.
66 min In commentary, they reference a recent interview in which Miedema praised her football intelligence, saying “I hate dumb players. I know that may sound really stupid but if a player doesn’t see the game properly, then they’re not a good footballer in my opinion.” Lovely stuff.
65 min I get the impression that Eidevall had been watching Parris thinking she was a talent he could coach into a player. I base that on no inside gen, but I reckon that’s what happened.
63 min Arsenal send on Little and Mead for Maanum and Parris.
GOAL! Koge 0-2 Arsenal (Parris 62)
And that’s the risk you take when you open up. Maanum drills a fine ball towards the far post, where Maritz does brilliantly to catch up with it, just before it crosses the by-line, dragging back for Catley on the edge. She doesn’t catch her shot properly, but Parris intercepts, killing it, then turns to drive home from close range. She is flying!
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61 min This s much better form Koge, Pokorny coming central with Carusa close by ... but Boye crunches her and Arsenal come away.
59 min Or are they inviting Arsenal to finish them off? A ball over the top sees Miedema in behind Faerge, and though the angle is relatively tight, you expect her to score. But Marckese, who’s been brilliant, keeps her nerve to keep standing up, saving again – with her studs this time.
58 min But have a look! Sajevich outfights Foord, poking for Floe, who drives a fine low cross that narrowly eludes Carusa. Are Koge coming?
57 min Walti misses her header, the bounce deceives Boye, and Pokorny us through! But she’s still 22 yards out and doesn’t back her pace to take her away from the covering Catley, so opts for a lob, that soars over the bar. That’s a warning for Arsenal or Koge’s chance frittered, depending on how you look at things; my suspicion is the latter.
56 min Maritz sticks a ball over the top for Nobbs, but the ball skids off the surface and Marckese collects.
54 min Foord curls in a de-licious ball, between Miedema and Marckese; a touch and it’s a goal. But Miedema can’t quite administer one; by her standard, that’s a bad miss.
54 min Marckese hammers one somewhere in the same timeezone as Carusa’s noggin, and she can’t do anything with it.
52 min I’d not be surprised if, on the other hand, we see Beth Mead soon, whose directness is well-suited to a game like this. Similarly, Mana Iwabuchi’s guile wouldn’t go amiss.
50 min I’m surprised Koge didn’t change anything because they were no threat whatsoever in the first half. Usually, you’d expect a team pinned in their own half to at least go somewhere with set-pieces, but they struggled to win any, even free-kicks on halfway for which they could send players forward then stick one into the mixer.
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49 min Arsenal have started the second half like they want to get this game finished.
49 min Maanum clips a ball over to Foord on the left of the box, but her cross doesn’t quite pick out Parris.
48 min Foord slides Miedema away down the left of the box and she might shoot, but deciding the angle is too acute, she dinks to the far post where Obaze heads away from Parris.
47 min “Koge are located in a region of Denmark called Zealand,” advises Peter Oh. “Their mascot is a swan, like Swansea’s. The scorer of Arsenal’s opening goal is from Australia, which neighbours New Zealand and has a state named New South Wales. It’s all connected, you see.
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The Koge men’s team is managed by Liverpool legend Daniel Agger.
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One annoying thing about plastic pitches is that when commentating on the action it somehow becomes less compelling to describe rough challenges as ‘agricultural’. Kicked-up rubber pellets just do not have the same aesthetic as flying clumps of grass and mud.”
And you can’t really saw “the ball runs away from you” either, as you used to be able to with old skool astro of the kind that left you with gigantic weeping sores following every slide tackle.
46 min We go again!
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Koge 0-1 Arsenal
No injury-time, strange given we had a goal. Arsenal were decent, Koge were poor.
44 min More Arsenal possession. I really don’t know what Koge’s plan is.
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42 min Miedema drops deep, threading a sensational reverse-pass through a narrow lane, putting Maanum in behind! She might take a touch, but instead swivels into a shot which flies over the bar. That was a really good chance, and reminds us once again that there’s nothing Miedema can’t do.
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41 min But here comes Floe down the left, Carusa pointing to where she wants the ball in behind. But a second’s hesitation means the angle disappears, and Arsenal quickly bring it away.
39 min Koge really need to change something, because they’re offering nothing in attack. Given they’re losing, maybe they can change from 5-4-1 to 4-4-2; if we were goalless, I can fathom keeping things as they are, but there’s nothing to be said for it now we’re not.
37 min I’ve not seen so one-sided a game since, er, last weekend’s Manchester derby.
35 min Another terrific save from Marckese! Arsenal win a corner down the right which Catley again swings in, and when the ball drops to Williamson, she gets plenty on her close-range dive ... but the keeper is alert again, diving to shove away. Williamson will think she should’ve scored, with good reason, but the ball came to her quickly and she connected well; I’m not sure she could’ve adjusted feet in the time she had to stick it in the corner.
34 min Koge are the only side so far this season not to lose to Barca by at least three goals; I didn’t see the game but I’m not sure how they managed that, because sitting back while offering nothing on the counter makes that a extremely improbable state of affairs.
33 min Jankovska kicks through Miedema and Maanum will stick a ball into the box from out on the left ... and it’s a decent one too, teased just over the defenders towards the far post ... but Williamson can’t quite catch up with it.
31 min Carusa picks up possession at inside-right and looks to nip around Boye, who’s much too strong for her, seeing the ball over the by-line with dismissive ease.
30 min That free-kick, though. It it doesn’t hit the bar, Marckese has a chance, but once it does, there’s nothing at all that can be done.
28 min I don’t know what Koge have got in response, because I can’t be sure if barely trying to attack was a strategy or an imposition. But so far, they’ve threatened nothing on the counter – the service into Carusa has been poor, but she needs teammates getting close to her.
GOAL! A LOVELY GOAL! Koge 0-1 Arsenal (Catley 27)
Catley flips the free-kick over the near side of the wall and in off the bar! That is unsaveable!
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27 min Talking of Maanum, she’s been very impressive since arriving in the summer, likewise Iwabuchi. I’d not be surprised to see the latter if it’s still goalless at half-time, but in the meantime Arsenal have a free0kick, 25 yards out and near the right side of the box...
26 min Maanum finds Miedema, who spreads left for Catley. But she can’t find Nobbs, and the attack breaks down.
23 min Williamson, under no pressure at all, has time to measure a pass, clipped over the top for Miedema, who contorts her body to send a flick goalwards ... but again, Marckese is equal to it, diving right to shove away! She’s having a right day out here.
22 min In commentary, they reckon Arsenal need to play an extra pass, and it’s true that hopeful crosses aren’t much help, but I’d say that the speed of their play needs to improve and they can afford to commit both full-backs forward because Koge are pulling almost everyone back.
21 min Catley swings over yet another cross, but aimed at no one, so Obaze heads clear under no pressure.
19 min The run of play hasn’t changed, though; Arsenal are still dominating territory and possession. That’s to be expected, but Koge haven’t found an out-ball and show no signs of threatening.
17 min MARCKESE SAVES PARRIS' SPOT-KICK!
The contact is decent, sending the ball to the keeper’s right, but the height is nice and Marckese plunges to strongarm away! That’s an excellent save, but why didn’t Miedema take it?
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16 min Parris will take; not sure why, but her we are...
15 min PENALTY TO ARSENAL!
Maritz goes down the right and swings over a tremendous cross that Marckese flaps away from Miedema – that’s good keeping. But when Foord recycle, finding Parris, she nicks away from Svendsen to tee-up Maanum, but Floe can’t help herself, ploughing through a challenge to hand over a completely unnecessay penalty.
14 min Guldbjerg humps forward one that Carusa has no chance of winning, Williamson dealing with her easily.
13 min Arsenal are playing with decent patience, but a bit more tempo would be helpful – they need to move the ball quicker to move Koge about more.
12 min Arsenal build again down the left but can’t find a route to the box so keep it moving, then Catley crosses for Parris, now in the middle of the box, but she can’t quite reach the ball. good idea, but.
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10 min Arsenal are totally dominant at the moment, but they’ve not created much.
8 min Arsenal win a corner down the right which Catley will swerve towards the back post, and Boye is there first! But she can’t force her shot past the phalanx of defenders between her and goal, neither can Miedema, and Koge get the ball away.
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7 min Soren Randa-oldt, the Koge manager, called Arsenal “Barcelona-lite”, saying they’re a bit freer to improvise in attack. Arsenal actually did pretty well in the first half of their trip to Catalonia, and have players good enough to hurt any team. But they’ll need more midfield control to have a serious chance of winning the thing.
6 min Foord puts Markvardsen under pressure, nicking the ball away just outside the box and looking to spank what’d be a wondrous finish back inside the near post. t’s a decent effort too, but flies a foot wide.
5 min Pokorny eases down the right and crosses seeking Carusa, but Williams is on hand to intervene.
3 min Koge are still boxed; this has been as confident a start from Arsenal as you’d expect, Williamson striding forward and banging a crossfield pass. But Maanum’s ball in behind runs away fro Parris, allowing Marckese out to smother.
1 min The pitch looks extremely artificial, which should help Koge, but Arsenal quickly have them under pressure, winning the ball high and probing, before Maritz’s pass runs into touch, too strong for Parris,
1 min And away we go!
The players take the knee. All black lives matter.
Koge do a lot of huddling and shouting. That should do it.
The average age of Koge’s side is 22, so they should be fit enough to chase for 90 minutes – the likelihood is that they’ll have to.
And here they come!
The players are tunnelling...
Four hundred and fifty Arsenal fans have made the trip to near Copenhagen, which should give the game a decent edge. Sounds better than a box room in north London, that’s for sure.
The game, by the way is available for free on DAZN’s YouTube channel – though for some reason it’s not yet started despite promising to do so a few minutes ago.
I’m looking forward to seeing Nikita Parris tonight, who was always a talent but looks to be really coming into her own as a player now. Her ability to shift it or beat players could be crucial against a blanket defence, but every time I think about who might do what, I remember that Arsenal have Miedema and whatever happens will most likely come on her account.
Elsewhere...
For the first time in 2 years, away game support❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/nkVkMV61a1
— Leah Williamson (@leahcwilliamson) November 10, 2021
The state of play in Group C:
Barcelona P2 Pts 6
Arsenal P2 Pts 6
Hoffenheim P2 Pts 3
HB Koge P2 Pts 0
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Also going on: an arse-nipper of burgeoning intensity.
I doubt Koge are keen to see the return of Miedema, who didn’t play for Holland after missing Brighton in the cup – she came on as sub at the weekend. Or is she now so good that opponents are disappointed when she’s not involved, because at some point they’ll want to tell their grandkids they were on the pitch with her?
Arsenal, meanwhile, make six changes, which shows us how strong their squad is, but also that Eidevall reckons he can get a result without picking his best XI. Zinsberger, McCabe, Wubben-Moy, Iwabuchi, Little and Mead, all of whom played against West Ham at the weekend, are on the bench tonight, with Williams, Boye, Catley, Walti, Nobbs and Miedema coming in.
Koge make one change to the team which lost at home to Barcelona, Sajewich replacing the injured Fitzgerald.
Teams!
HB Køge (a blanketing 5-4-1): Marckese; Markvardsen, Obaze, Guldbjerg, Svendsen, Faerge; Floe Nielsen, Sajewich, Jankovska, Pokorny; Carusa. Subs: Vingum Andersen, Solgaard Sorensen, Uhre Nielsen, Nowak, Romero, Thrane Hornemann, Walter, Ostenfeld, Brahe Andersen, Kramer, Wik, Adler.
Arsenal (a loose 4-3-3): Williams; Maritz, Williamson, Boye, Catley; Maanum, Walti, Nobbs; Parris, Miedema, Foord. Subs: Zinsberger, Cull, Wubben-Moy, Patten, Mead, Little, McCabe, Iwabuchi, Goldie.
Preamble
Under the guidance of their new manager, Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal have made a sensational start to the season. In their first league game, they played Chelsea off the park in a classic and have won every domestic fixture since, the 5-0 smashing of Man City 5-0 a particular highlight, and now sit top of the table with a cup final coming up.
Eidevall’s role in all this should not be underestimated. Joe Montemurro also deserves credit, bequeathing a squad of ridiculous talent, but Eidevall bought well in the summer and since then has husbanded his resources expertly, rejuvenating Beth Mead in particular and rotating his cast without losing cohesion.
Nevertheless, his side endured an unpleasant shock when facing Barcelona last month, the defending champions dispensing a 5-0 hiding that showed just how far Arsenal still have to go. But it’s only November, giving Eidevall has plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments and improvements, but in the meantime his charges need to secure qualification for the last eight. And, though Køge were battered in Hoffenheim, they only lost 2-0 at home to Barcelona and have won 11 of their 12 league games, so won’t be short of confidence. It’s on!
Kick-off: 6.45pm local, 5.45pm GMT
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