Chioma Ubogagu was the match winner on Sunday evening as her second half goal allowed Arsenal Ladies to take all three points home from a trip to face Birmingham City.
The final game of the weekend in the FAWSL saw Birmingham welcome Arsenal to the Autotech Stadium in Solihull on Sunday evening. Both teams needed wins for different reasons in the match, Birmingham to pull themselves away from the relegation battle and the Gunners to keep themselves in the title race, so it promised to be a well fought affair as both gave everything for all three points.
Team news
With another incredible crowd in excess of 1,000 expected in the Midlands, it would be the perfect time for the Blues to kickstart their season, and with their captain Karen Carney returning to the starting line up as well as another Lioness in Jo Potter, they had all the tools necessary to dismantle an Arsenal side who were exploited incredibly last week at home to Liverpool.
The Gunners made three changes to the side who endured their first defeat of the season seven days ago, with Emma Mitchell, Natalia Pablos and Ubogagu coming into the side as Jade Bailey, Danielle Carter and Carla Humphrey all dropped to the bench, the team taking a more attacking shape for their eighth game of the campaign.
With neither side expected to dominate as both boasted marvellously strong midfields who were capable of getting their team on the ball a lot, one could expect a very even and end-to-end match that would simply be won by the team who wanted it that little bit more.
Birmingham start well but Arsenal grow into game
It was the hosts, arguably needing the points more, who started brightly as Carney had a shot blocked and Potter saw her free-kick headed across the face of goal, but goalkeeper Emma Byrne was the quickest to react as she gathered it comfortably.
The Gunners then had the first real chance of the game, Dominique Janssen releasing Ubogagu down the left, and the American picked out the incoming Natalia with a neat cut-back, but her teammate rushed her shot and fired high and wide with 11 minutes gone.
This sparked a spell of real dominance for the visitors, albeit one that consisted of few chances, with Ubogagu's spin away from Jade Moore and strike from 25 yards the pick of their play, but Birmingham goalkeeper Becky Spencer did well to get down and parry the shot away.
Vicky Losada would force a good save from the stopper less than 10 minutes later too, but, again, they did not carve much out that really troubled the Blues.
Still, Arsenal took an advantage in at the break, albeit a player advantage not a goal advantage as Freda Ayisi, a former Gunner, was booked on the stroke of half time and then dismissed in the one added minute for a rash, high challenge on Leah Williamson - one that may have warranted a red card even without the earlier booking.
Early setback for Blues forces them to go for it
Arsenal were quick to take advantage of Birmingham's player-light team as well, opening the scoring after just eight minutes of the second half. Ubogagu, who had a chance minutes before but was dispossessed at a crucial moment after hesitating, was the scorer; Losada pressing high and winning the ball back before feeding the American, who finished coolly after a quick one-two with Natalia.
The Blues responded well though, and many in the crowd believed they had equalised on the hour as Melissa Lawley's strike deflected up into the air and looped goalwards, where Byrne held it on the line, though she took a nervy step back when doing so to give the referee a tough call to make. However, replays showed that all of the ball certainly didn't cross the line and thus the right decision was made by the officials.
Five minutes later, Carney would pick out Remi Allen with a great cross, but the midfielder's attempted conversion hit the bar before half time substitute Kirsty Linnett fired the rebound over on the volley having connected with it too well on the edge of the box.
Arsenal regain their composure
After a tough 10 minutes following their goal, Arsenal managed to get a foothold in the game again in the final 20 minutes as they looked to see the game out. The Gunners kept the ball well in the Blues' half, with Williamson and Janssen seeing efforts fly off target as they pushed Birmingham further back and away from danger.
Danielle Carter, introduced at the interval for the injured Alex Scott, almost wrapped things up in the final few minutes, but Spencer came out well to smother and keep her side's hope of a point alive.
Birmingham threatened late on with some dangerous crosses and determined play, but they were unable to really carve out a chance to equalise as Arsenal defended valiantly when they needed to.
The Gunners deservedly held on to their slender lead and were able to see the game out and record all three points, despite the Blues' great character shown to battle to the very end with 10 players.
The visitors did brilliantly to keep Birmingham's most influential players quiet throughout the game, and this was a big reason for their victory.
Mitchell forced Carney to drop back and defend more by bombing forward down the left, whilst the pressure they applied to their opponent's defence meant that they often played panicky long balls forward, missing out their crucial unit in the middle of the park that contained the likes of Allen, Moore and Potter - the players who make things happen.
Arsenal now climb back into second place with this win, only two points behind league leaders Chelsea following their shock defeat to Sunderland yesterday evening. Things look tough for Birmingham, on the other hand, though, as they sit second from bottom with three points, just one ahead of eighth-placed Bristol Academy and six behind Liverpool.