Arsenal Women 3-1 PSV Eindhoven: Iwabuchi double secures passage through

Arsenal are through to the second and final round of Champions League qualifying after beating PSV Eindhoven. Vivianne Miedema opened the scoring, with two Mana Iwabuchi goals sandwiching Esmee Brugts’ strike for PSV.

Jonas Eidevall made two changes to the team that beat Okzhetpes on Wednesday, with Steph Catley and Jen Beattie coming into the lineup, with Lotte Wubben-Moy and Nikita Parris dropping to the bench.

Arsenal started well, with the front six putting PSV under pressure, and doing well to prevent the Dutch side from getting into Arsenal’s half. Eventually, the pressure told. Under Eidevall, Arsenal have moved the ball a little more quickly back to front than under Joe Montemurro, and Arsenal’s first showed the work that Eidevall has been doing in training. Noëlle Maritz and Beth Mead combined down the right to send Kim Little away, who found Mead in the penalty box, who cut the ball back to Miedema. Miedema took one touch, turned past Anika Rodriguez, and then calmly finished passed Sari van Veenendaal in goal to make it 1-0.

Miedema had a chance to make it 2-0 after beating the PSV offside trap, but having cut the ball back onto her left foot, she hit the side netting as she tried to beat Van Veenendaal at her near post. Arsenal would make it 2-0 late in the second half: Mead took a quick short corner to Iwabuchi, who rolled past her defender and then fired an arrow into goal.

PSV rocked Arsenal in the second half, pulling a goal back when Simone Boye failed to clear a long ball, allowing Brugts to get behind and poke the ball past Manuela Zinsberger. And PSV threatened for a good fifteen minutes, testing Arsenal’s defence with long passes in behind, getting around the pressure set by Arsenal. It was something Eidevall noted in his press conference afterwards, remarking that Arsenal need to be more compact and structured out of possession.

But Arsenal would respond: Iwabuchi intercepted a loose PSV touch, set up Miedema to shoot, and when Van Veenendaal saved, Iwabuchi followed the rebound and deflected the attempted clearance into goal. It was a scruffy goal, but an important one, restoring the two-goal lead and ending PSV’s hopes of a comeback.

Arsenal will now be drawn against either Rosengård, Slavia Praha, Olympique Lyon, or Wolfsburg in the next round, which will be two legs: on the 31st of August or 1st of September, and the return leg a week later.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Zinsberger; Maritz, Boye, Beattie (Wubben-Moy 73’), Catley; Little, Maanum; Mead (Parris 69’), Iwabuchi (Foord 73’), McCabe; Miedema (Patten 90+1)’
Substitutes not used: Williams, Cull, Goldie

Goals: Miedema 19’, Iwabuchi 39’, 65’; Brugts 51’