In the 88th minute Arsenal were staring at a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa and their Women’s Super League title aspirations lay in tatters. Then came a heady roar from the crowd as Beth Mead stepped over the touchline ready to make her return from injury. Then the announcement of 12 minutes of added time ushered in another hopeful roar. Two minutes later a rocket from Katie McCabe sent the Emirates Stadium wild – and, finally, a Mead assist and an Alessia Russo strike breathed belief back into the Gunners’ campaign.
No team have lost more than two games in a season and won the league in the history of the WSL and, with just one point from their opening two games, Arsenal had to take three against Villa.
It would be wrong to attribute the comeback solely to Mead’s introduction, but it was certainly the catalyst and her stunning assist, clipping the ball back to Russo rather than shooting, showed an intelligence in the final third that Arsenal have needed.
“She deserves that reception,” Jonas Eidevall said of the welcome Mead received from the home crowd. “She’s worked so hard. She’s had a really difficult year, both being injured, her mum passed away, we know that it’s been incredibly tough for her.
“It’s so nice to see her being back on the pitch, seeing her being able to perform straight away. You never know [if that will happen]. You have the hope, otherwise I would never have put her on, but you don’t know it until you’ve seen [it] … but she does, obviously. Because she’s Beth Mead, and we’re happy about that.”
Eidevall made five changes to the side that began the 2-2 draw against Manchester United nine days ago, while Carla Ward made three to the Villa team that lost against Liverpool last Sunday, the former Gunner Jordan Nobbs dropping to the bench with Alisha Lehmann and Adriana Leon. Neither side had had the start to the season many would have expected, Arsenal’s lone point coming against United, while Villa were yet to get off the mark.
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Arsenal started much brighter in front of 35,829 but it was a rapid Maz Pacheco who gave Villa a lead against the run of play midway through the half. With Simone Magill racing towards a ball over the top, Kim Little smashed it out for a corner rather than leaving for the onrushing Manuela Zinsberger. The set piece was swung towards the far post, over the head of Amanda Ilestedt where Pacheco sped in and steered home with her head. It was abysmal defending, with the wing‑back unmarked and not having to jump to connect.
It was another chastening blow for the Gunners, who dominated in terms of chances for the third game in a row but could not make that attacking superiority count. Russo, signed on a free from Manchester United in the summer, went close with a header late in the half but the ball was cleared off the line again, this time by Rachel Daly.
There was more agony in the 67th minute, with Caitlin Foord hitting the far post from the left and the substitute Cloé Lacasse on top of it but unable to turn it in, before Russo poked her effort straight at Daphne van Domselaar.
The introduction of Mead felt like the final throw of a dice and it lifted the crowd as well as the team. Those 12 added minutes only extended their hope. Ward described the amount of added time as “ludicrous” but with seven substitutions in normal time and a number of stoppages in the second half, including for a head injury to Rachel Corsie, there could be little complaint.
It was Foord’s ball wide to an overlapping McCabe that carved out the leveller, the Republic of Ireland captain firing in from an impossible-looking angle. Three minutes later England’s Euro 2022 golden boot winner, Mead, did not let her return be the highlight of a dismal day, cutting back for Russo to slide in from the edge of the box, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
