Arsenal qualified for the Champions League, but that was despite being beaten 2-0 by an impressive Aston Villa at Meadow Park.

Goals by Rachel Daly and Alisha Lehmann were the difference between the sides on a day where the Gunners injury issues finally caught up with them.

Daly scored her 22nd goal of a phenomenal Women's Super League season, as she capitalised on a mistake by Sabrina D'Angelo to give the visitors the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Lehmann scored a second goal, just seven minutes into the second-half and Arsenal struggled from that point on to create many big opportunities, on a disappointing afternoon for Jonas Eidevall's team.

Story of the match

It was announced earlier this week that Brazilian defender Rafaelle would be leaving Arsenal and she was named in the starting line-up on her final appearance for the club.

Eidevall made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 against Chelsea last time out.

There was a change in the Gunners goal with D'Angelo coming in for Manuela Zinsberger.

Steph Catley and Jodie Taylor were also handed starts on the final day of the WSL season.

Carla Ward, who signed a contract extension this week to remain as Aston Villa boss, made three alterations to her team with Rachel Corsie, Laura Blindkilde and Remi Allen all coming into the team.

Former Arsenal star Jordan Nobbs was missing through injury and midfielder Kenza Dali was also unavailable.

Anna Patten was ineligible to play as she cannot feature against her parent club.

Daly was chasing a WSL record as she was just one shy of the 22 goals that Vivianne Miedema scored during the 2018-19 campaign.

Arsenal almost took the lead after just eight minutes, when Taylor's cutback was met by Stina Blackstenius but she was unable to connect properly.

Both teams were struggling to create many clear-cut opportunities and the North London side were being restricted to half-chances.

Katie McCabe, who is known for scoring some superb goals from long-range, had a strike from around 25 yards go over the bar on 19 minutes.

The Gunners have been riddled by injuries this season and there was another problem when Blackstenius went down after chasing a long-ball over the top of the Aston Villa backline - but thankfully for Arsenal she was able to continue a few minutes later.

The visitors had their first moment of danger when Maz Pacheco got down the left-side of the Arsenal area, but Rafaelle was there to clear the ball away.

But Eidevall's side always remained the bigger threat and it needed a fine save by Hannah Hampton to deny Frida Maanum's excellent drive.

But it was Aston Villa who took the lead on the brink of half-time, as a corner from the left hand-side was not claimed by D'Angelo and Daly fired the ball into the net to give the away side the lead.

Arsenal knew that they just needed to avoid an extremely heavy defeat to miss out on a Champions League place to Manchester City - but it was a blow nonetheless.

Eidevall made a change at the break with Kathrine Kuhl replacing Blackstenius - who was possibly unable to fully recover from the knock she picked up in the opening 45 minutes.

But it was Villa who struck again at the start of the second-half as Lehmann got on the end of a cross from the left, before guiding the ball beyond D'Angelo to make it 2-0.

A matter of minutes later, Daly almost scored her 23rd of the season when she pounced on a mistake by Lotte Wubben-Moy, but her shot was deflected over the bar.

It had been a sloppy start to the second period for the Gunners, but they went close to halving the deficit when Taylor's effort went just wide of the far post.

Arsenal had never lost to the Midlands side in the WSL before, but that record was under serious threat at Meadow Park and they were struggling to mount continuous attacks on the visitors goal.

Carla Ward had named only three substitutes in her matchday squad and she turned to one of them for the remaining 25 minutes - with Simone Magill replacing Lucy Staniforth.

Magill was straight into the action and she almost made it 3-0, when she was presented with a glorious opportunity. The 28-year-old could only hit her shot over the bar though.

It had been an impressive display by Villa and they looked like scoring every time they came forward. Daly came close again on 77 minutes but surprisingly her header was off-target.

The away side saw out the game excellently to further cement an impressive fifth-placed finish in the WSL.

 

Player of the match - Rachel Daly

She equalled the WSL season goalscoring record when she pounced on some hesitation in the Arsenal penalty area to score her 22nd goal of the season.

Daly was a constant problem throughout for the Gunners defenders and the England international is likely to have a starring role at the World Cup this summer.

The 31-year-old's constant movement and excellent link-up play was sensational at times.