Through courage and determination, our squad pulled off an incredible comeback at the King Power Stadium to beat Leicester City 6-2.
After going two goals down in the first half, we proceeded to score four goals in 12 minutes through Cloe Lacasse, Caitlin Foord, Alessia Russo and Victoria Pelova, before Stina Blackstenius and Lina Hurtig capped off the recovery with a fifth and sixth.
What happened
Jonas Eidevall made six changes to the side that defeated Bristol City in midweek, as Amanda Ilestedt, Alessia Russo, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Manuela Zinsberger all returned.
With Kim Little and Lia Walti out of action this weekend, Australian midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross also earned her first WSL start and Victoria Pelova took her spot in the starting lineup.
Incredible away support packed into the King Power Stadium to raucously cheer on our Gunners away from home.
Pelova had an early chance after Cloe Lacasse intercepted a Leicester throw-in deep in their own half. The Dutch midfielder struck the ball sweetly goalwards but it just brushed the near post.
Neither side was able to find a clear-cut chance in the opening 30 minutes until Pelova came close once again. Pouncing on a spilt ball and trying to chip the Leitzig in the Leicester goal, she missed the target by a fraction.
Down the other end, Lotte Wubben-Moy prevented a near-certain goalscoring opportunity for the Foxes. As the ball was squared to Deanne Rose in the six-yard box, our centre-back managed to get the slightest of touches to keep the ball out of reach.
It wasn't to remain goalless for long, however, as the hosts showed the clinical edge we were lacking. Leicester were awarded a corner and captain Sam Tierney nodded in at the near post.
We'd barely had time to reset before the Foxes struck again on the counter. This time, Janice Cayman was able to slide into the box and slip the ball past Zinsberger, leaving us to rue our missed chances and with a lot of work to do after the break.
What happened in the next 45 minutes was almost unbelievable as our squad utterly transformed their performance.
Caitlin Foord switched play with a spectacular ball to fellow winger Lacasse, who showed great strength to shrug off her marker and convert through the keeper’s legs. And then the comeback was on.
It took us a little over five minutes to get back on level terms. Captain Katie McCabe scooped a pass to Alessia Russo, entirely unmarked by the penalty spot, completed the move with a clean finish one-on-one with Leitzig.
Our momentum soon snowballed and we struck gold yet again to take the lead for the first time. Foord was involved once more with a fine first-time finish after Russo played a perfectly-weighted pass into her path.
Three minutes later, Player of the Match Pelova bagged a well-deserved goal to extend our lead. Cooney-Cross broke on the counter and picked out Lacasse flying down the wing. Our Canadian forward was one-on-one with the keeper but opted for the cut back to Pelova, who bundled the ball into the net.
With the game now relatively secure, Jonas Eidevall made a triple substitution to introduce Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Lina Hurtig into the game.
All three subs came exceptionally close to increasing our lead within minutes of coming on, as we settled into a comfortable attacking rhythm and looked likely to score with every chance.
Blackstenius did get on the scoresheet in the 75th minute. After Steph Catley sent a superb through-ball to Pelova, splitting the Leicester backline wide open, Blackstenius was there to decidedly put the game to bed.
Hurtig, who looked particularly sharp after coming on, completed the rout in stoppage time courtesy of yet another assist from Pelova.
What's next
With our fifth consecutive win, our Gunners now move into second place behind Chelsea.
We're not in action again until next Sunday, when we pay a visit to Broadfield Stadium to take on Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Seagulls are fresh from a statement win over Manchester City this weekend, sitting in eighth position in the league.
Team news
Arsenal starting XI: Zinsberger (GK), McCabe (C), Wubben-Moy, Ilestedt, Catley, Cooney-Cross (Maritz, 94), Pelova, Maanum (Blackstenius, 67), Lacasse (Mead, 67) Foord (Hurtig, 67), Russo (Kuhl, 90)
Subs: D'Angelo (GK), Williams (GK), Miedema, Lia
Leicester City starting XI: Leitzig (GK), Nevin, Thibaud, CJ Bott, Howard, Tierney (C), Cayman, Rantala, Petermann, Cain, Rose (Goodwin, 45)
Subs: Kop (GK), Palmer, Whelan, Robinson, Green, Siemsen, Baker, Reavill
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