Arsenal Women: Beth Mead inspires cup romp

Arsenal Women romped home against an overmatched Charlton Athletic on Sunday afternoon, Beth Mead leading the way with a terrific performance. Here is a full report of the 4-0 victory.

Arsenal Women didn’t need to be at their best on Sunday afternoon as they eased past Championship bottom club Charlton Athletic in the Women’s League Cup. Beth Mead scored one and laid on two, with Danielle Van De Donk grabbing a brace, in a 4-0 victory that keeps Arsenal top of group B.

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While Charlton weren’t the sternest of opposition, the Gunners were made to work in the first half especially and it wasn’t until the 35th minute that Jennifer Beattie met Mead’s freekick to put them ahead.

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Charlton didn’t offer much going forward, with just one effort on goal, but they sat deep and forced Arsenal’s midfield to unpick them. When they finally did, it was through a beautiful move that saw Jordan Nobbs, Mead and Van De Donk all involved, resulting in the latter sliding the ball below the goalkeeper.

Vivianne Miedema had the chances to score her 49th and 50th Arsenal goals, but with the game already at 4-0, she looked as though she wanted to do too much, squandering the opportunities rather than finishing them with her usual deadly efficiency. She will hope that she can reach that milestone next Sunday against Manchester City instead. Coming out of the emphatic victory, Miedema’s fitness is the only slight worry, but head coach Joe Montemurro told me after the game that it was ‘only a kick’ and that she should be fine for next week’s big clash with Manchester City.

The defeat to Chelsea was certainly a blow for last season’s champions, but the squad have responded in the best possible way with two consecutive blowout wins. Players like Nobbs are still finding their way back to full fitness, while Katrine Veje impressed on her return from injury. For Van De Donk and Mead, it was further evidence of their quality and Charlton’s players looked unable to handle them at times.

Charlton goalkeeper Katie Startup did make a poor error for Van De Donk’s second and Arsenal’s fourth, allowing the ball to roll through her legs from a fairly routine shot on goal. Nonetheless, Arsenal were out of sight by that point and it was just a shame that it happened on such a big occasion.

After the game, midfielder Alice Griffiths said it was great to test herself against a team of Arsenal’s quality, and Charlton did exert themselves well in the first half. But, in the end, Montemurro’s side simply had too much class, experience and skill for the south London side.

Arsenal Women now set up next week’s tie with Manchester City in the best way possible. With a big, get-right win that saw star players return and elite form continue. What more could you want?