Arsenal’s narrow victory over relegation-threatened Leicester on Friday kept the Gunner’s European hopes alive, and the fuel behind the hard-fought win was owed to the devastating slew of injuries suffered within Jonas Eidevall’s ranks of late.
Arsenal’s injuries crisis was exacerbated this week after defender Laura Wienrother became the latest Gunner to suffer an ACL injury. The 24-year-old was forced off just 18 minutes into Arsenal’s crushing Champions League semi-final second-leg defeat to Wolfsburg on Monday and forced to join Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson in the increasingly disconcerting injury epidemic to grip women’s football. Kim Little and Caitlin Foord also comprise Arsenal’s swelling injury list.
Despite the bruising result and further exhausted ranks, Jonas Eidevall’s side continued to demonstrate an unyielding tenacity to defy their reality. Despite enduring an hour of frustration against the Foxes, in which Katie McCabe saw an early penalty saved by Janina Leitzig in the opening five minutes, a moment of magic from Frida Maanum clinched a critical 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Leicester to keep their European ambitions within reach.
