Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham: How it happened

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WHAT HAPPENED

Goals from Jordan Nobbs and Danielle van de Donk helped us to equal the best ever start to a Women’s Super League season on Sunday, as we ran out 3-1 winners over Birmingham City.

Both teams came into this fixture having conceded the fewest goals in the Women’s Super League - and it certainly showed in the opening exchanges, with both sides battling hard for possession in the middle of the park.

Katie McCabe had the first sight of goal with a curling effort over the bar, before Lia Walti made a stunning sliding tackle on the halfway line to stop a promising move for the visitors.

We were struggling to find space behind the compact Blues defence, but that didn’t stop Nobbs from threatening. Our captain’s low drive was well saved by Ann-Katrin Berger, before the keeper stopped Nobbs’ 30-yard volley with both hands.

The England international then delivered two inviting balls across the face of goal, but top scorer Vivianne Miedema was unable to make contact.

It’s safe to say that we didn't display our usual attacking intensity throughout the first half - but that all changed after the break.

Miedema headed Lisa Evans’ dangerous delivery narrowly wide of the post, before Nobbs’ powerful drive was impressively saved by Berger.

The Blues goalkeeper then made another stunning stop to deny Beth Mead from close range, but she could do nothing about Nobbs’ opener. Mead played our captain through on goal with a delicate through ball, and she made no mistake in finding the back of the net for her seventh WSL goal of the season.

However, much to the frustration of Joe Montemurro, the visitors instantly raced up the other end of the field and levelled the score through Emma Follis.

We could have easily crumbled under the pressure, but instead we pushed on, played our football and penned the Blues into their own half, allowing Evans to race into the six-yard box and win a penalty.

Danielle van de Donk stepped up from the spot and made no mistake in converting from 12 yards.

Marc Skinner’s side continued to fight for an equaliser right up until the final whistle, but after they had committed too many players forward, Nobbs rounded off the scoring with a thumping finish into the bottom left corner.