'Williams always chose right options’

By Lloyd Webb

Pedro Martinez Losa has praised Fara Williams after she scored twice in Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Reading on Saturday.

After Vicky Losada opened the scoring, the England international converted a penalty before adding a second with a delightful chip to ensure the Gunners began their defence of the Continental Cup in a convincing manner.

Williams was a constant threat to Reading throughout the clash, and Losa says she hardly put a foot wrong at The Hive.

“Fara was a big part of the game, and she was very good with her distribution,” the manager told Arsenal.com. “She chose the right moments when to play it short, when to play it long, when to win the ball, when to make the game go quicker and also when to make it slower.

“She scored a fantastic goal and a penalty. We spoke at half-time that certain moments could be very important to break their organisation, and there were difficult moments in the game. I’m very pleased with how the team dealt with that.

“We had a little anxiety from the last game because we didn’t score against Birmingham. We created chances, which was the most important thing. We had five good chances, and we should have scored one or two. In the second half, we found a way to hurt the opponent and I think we deserved more goals, but the win is what we deserve.

“It was more pleasing just to see the team play in a difficult week. We had three games and you want to win all three, but we drew one and won the other two and I think we played good football overall.

“Now we have to think how we can be better, because we were without players like Dan Carter and players like Jordan Nobbs, Kelly Smith and Asisat Oshoala are coming back. You only have to see Chelsea, they were struggling on this pitch. We have to be happy with this group - they deserve credit and all the players are important in this team.”