Aston Villa Women Experts: Snow better feeling like playing at Villa Park
We’re delighted to welcome author Freya Taylor and former academy player Lyndsey Bissell as our exclusive Aston Villa Women experts. Each week they’ll be collaborating to give their views on the biggest talking points at the WSL club…
For Aston Villa’s final match of 2022, they faced one of their toughest opponents to date. Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal, who were sitting third in the table before the match, are a squad filled to the brim with depth and quality; something that would prove yet again to be fatal against an injury-stricken Villa side.
It was a freezing evening at Villa Park, at a Baltic -2ºC, however the 6,013 fans in attendance (including a sold out away section for Arsenal) were in full voice throughout the match. Playing at Villa Park is always a special occasion for the women’s team and the fans were treated to not only a fan zone outside the stadium, but also visits from Santa and his reindeers too, which the families, with young children in attendance, were delighted to see.
It was an atmosphere that clearly worked its magic for the home side, as Kirsty Hanson put a brilliant strike past Manuela Zinsberger in the sixth minute. Looking good for Villa, the fans were singing, cheering and banging their seats to will their team on further; however, the lead didn’t last for long as a heart-breaking deflection, that resulted in an own goal by Villa captain Rachel Corsie, saw the Gunners become level in the 26th minute.
Similar to Villa’s previous games, there were a lot of creative moments for Carla Ward’s side and the final result for most of us watching, could have been a draw throughout many times of the match. Four minutes later, Vivianne Miedema gave the Gunners the advantage they were looking for. Looking quickly for another to seal their lead, Stina Blackstenius’ header was on target but luckily, Hannah Hampton was there to save it securely.
As the whistle went for half time, it was clear that Villa needed an inspirational half-time team talk to come back out fighting and they did just that. Shots on target came in quick succession from Alisha Lehmann and Kenza Dali (who assisted in Hanson’s earlier goal) and Villa looked to be in with a fighting chance of at least getting a draw from the game.
However, Arsenal didn’t take the threat to their defence lightly, as Katie McCabe came striking forward to score in the 62nd minute before Jordan Nobbs (who came on in the 72nd minute to replace Miedema) slotted Arsenal’s 500th WSL goal into the back of the net.
With still only three substitutes on the bench for Villa and 11 players injured, it’s clear that the January window will be very important for Ward to boost her squad depth. As this match made it clear how much of an impact bringing fresh legs on in the second half can change the game. For example, while Villa were able to bring on Emily Gielnik and Isobel Goodwin in attacking positions to support Rachel Daly, Arsenal’s squad depth allowed them to bring on four more quality players, including Leah Williamson and Nobbs.
Even though the match finished at 4-1 to Arsenal, it was clear to those watching that such a score line did not reflect the opportunities and chances created by the home side, who played phenomenally well against one of the top sides of the WSL.
In her post match interview, Ward made it clear she knew her team gave everything and she “knows we’re onto something” referring to the close-knit environment she is building at Aston Villa. Undoubtedly, the Christmas break has come at the right time for Villa, a break to recover mentally and physically will allow the team to return in the New Year with the strength to continue fighting for their highest finish yet in the WSL.
Our standout player of the match was Laura Blindkilde Brown, the 19-year-old showed fantastic flair, unfaltering determination and certainly wasn’t afraid to battle and win the ball in midfield for Villa. Always keeping her head up and eye on the ball, she’s a huge talent that Villa needs to develop and certainly keep hold of. She is a fantastic asset to the squad.
Interestingly, with women’s matches in the men’s stadiums around the country attracting record crowds (for example 44,259 people in attendance for the Manchester Derby last weekend) it was a shame to see only one section of Villa Park appear to be allocated for this match.
Although, as mentioned earlier, the fans were in full voice and everyone who had made it there on such a cold evening thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It begs the question, out of a maximum capacity of 42,682; why was only a small portion of the stadium available for this match? Was it due to low ticket sales (unlikely) or the match only been given a certain number of seats? The appetite and want for women’s football has increased by over 200% in some cases since the Euros and it would be fantastic for more stadiums to have faith in how many tickets women’s football matches can sell.
Aston Villa women will return after the Christmas break to play Tottenham Hotspur at home on 14th January 2023 and we can’t wait to see how the Villans shape up for their next challenge.
In other Aston Villa Women news, Ward believes Ruesha Littlejohn can have a big impact after returning from injury.