Over 3,000 miles away, Cloe Lacasse’s family were watching on as she announced her arrival at Arsenal last week.
The Gunners were staring down the barrel of a second successive defeat in the Women’s Super League, until Lacasse came to the rescue against Manchester United.
Deep into injury-time, the forward arrowed the ball into the top corner to rescue a point for Arsenal and spark their season into life.
It prompted wild celebrations, with Lacasse mobbed by her new team-mates after scoring her first goal since a summer move from Benfica.
But back in Canada, the celebrations were short-lived due to a tug of war over the remote control.
“My parents only have one television in their house and my grandma just moved in,” Lacasse tells Standard Sport.
“So she had her show that she really wanted to flick to right afterwards. They saw the goal and my dad was like: ‘We can’t change it now!’
“Grandma ended up waiting 10 minutes so they were able to catch a few things afterwards. My grandma didn’t care for the after-show, but they saw a little bit of it.
“I am not sure what she wanted to watch. Some French-Canadian TV show. I didn’t ask. I was just like, really Grandma? Come on!”
If Lacasse’s parents wanted to catch the goal again then they need only go on social media, where it has gone viral over the past week. Lacasse has seen it countless times herself, with friends continually sending her the clip.
“At one point it almost gets uncomfortable, because you don’t know what to say anymore,” she says, laughing.
“It came off my foot and it just felt right. It was one of those strikes where you just almost know it’s going in.
“A goal like that gives you that reassurance that this is where you want to be, and this is the environment that’s going to give you confidence going forward.
“I wanted to come to this project, because I knew it was an exciting place to be in women’s football. Having that moment proved it.”
As well as being a spark for Lacasse’s time at Arsenal, the Gunners will hope it is one for their season too.
It has been a difficult start, with the club knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying rounds and losing to Liverpool in their WSL opener.
That defeat came at Emirates Stadium and Arsenal are back there this Sunday, with just under 35,000 tickets sold for the game against Aston Villa.
Crowds like that force Lacasse to pinch herself when she thinks of where her journey started. The 30-year-old grew up in a community just outside Sudbury in Canada, which had a population of around 20,000.
“The chances of this happening for someone that came from a community like that kind of blows my mind at times,” she says.
Lacasse began playing football at the age of three, mainly because she wanted to copy her older brother, Luke.
“He retired around 13 years old,” says Lacasse. “I think that is when I started coming better than him. He still thinks he taught me everything I know, he’s a firm believer on that.”
Lacasse’s talent outweighed her brother’s, though, and it wasn’t long before she was picked to play for the provincial team in Toronto. It was a tough four years, with her parents driving her the eight-hour round trip every weekend to play.
“Lots of car fights, lots of CDs out of the window…good car times, lots of bonding,” says Lacasse, grinning.
“In Toronto they would play outside, but it was freezing. It was like nothing I have ever experienced to be honest.
“That’s what it is in Canada, that’s what we have. That’s why I think we are gritty players, who are humble and thankful for what we have.”
That was around the age of 13 and before that Lacasse had been juggling football with a burgeoning taekwondo career.
She was a black belt and competed at a national level, with her love of martial arts inspired by the film Karate Kid.
Lacasse still occasionally practices taekwondo and has joked about a fight with Arsenal goalkeeper Naomi Williams, who is a black belt in karate.
“We are seeing what type of marketing we can do, TV rights,” she says.
But, joking aside, Lacasse does believe that taekwondo has helped her technique when playing football.
“A half-volley in football is a roundhouse kick in taekwondo, for example,” she says.
For me, it was a no-brainer joining Arsenal.
“It’s the same thing, just one you are striking a body the other you are striking a ball! But, yeah, it helped with flexibility, mobility, balance, all of those things.”
After studying in the USA, stints playing in Iceland and Portugal followed, before the call from Arsenal came this summer.
Lacasse has settled well in London, although she still has plenty to see. A trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is high on her bucket list.
The forward’s own magic got Arsenal back on track at Man United last week and Lacasse is convinced the best is yet to come.
She grew up idolising the likes of Christine Sinclair, Eden Hazard and Thierry Henry - and now she has the stage to shine like them.
“I wanted be at a club that is ambitious, that is going to contend for all the titles, but also helping the evolution of the game,” she says. “For me, it was a no-brainer joining Arsenal.”
Tickets for Arsenal v Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium are available here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/arsenal/EDP/Event/Index/3277
