Eidevall on strong performance and Miedema return

Jonas Eidevall commended a strong display against Bristol City on Sunday evening, whilst acknowledging the missed chances that could have provided a bigger victory.

"It went as I expected," said our head coach after the game. "We had a lot of possession, we were in a lot of control. We knew we needed both patience and quality to break down that low block against a team that is very direct and good on the transition.

"When you score the first goal like we did, you hope that you can score a second goal because the game becomes easier. Instead, we conceded on the first chance they created and then we had to work very hard and have a lot of quality to score again.

"I think how we approached the second half, the way we went out and played, I was very proud of that. I think that was a strong performance and the only thing that was missing with another goal."

Katie McCabe's fantastic brace secured back-to-back victories for our Gunners, as we look to settle into good form after a tricky start to the campaign. The two goals bring McCabe's goal tally up to three, making the Ireland captain our top scorer so far. 

"Katie has definitely proven her worth to the team in all of our opening games and it's been good to see."

Sunday evening also saw Vivianne Miedema make a long-awaited return after ten months away from the side through injury. Her appearance in stoppage time may have only been a cameo but an incredible no-look pass from the Dutch forward found Beth Mead's surging run and nearly gave us a third goal in the dying minutes. 

"That pass reminded me of the pass [Viv] did to Beth at the Emirates on my first WSL game for Arsenal. It's just a copy of that. She's incredible with those passes as you can see that Beth believes in it fully with her run as well.

"I do think that was one of the opportunities we should have converted though."

Over 12,000 supporters watched the win at Ashton Gate - a club-record crowd for Bristol City that was bolstered by a tremendous away contingent. 

"Don't forget that a lot of the people were also Arsenal supporters. The travelling supporters are loud and they're proud. We experienced that in Manchester and now today in Bristol.

"We know it's not an easy time. It's late on Sunday. You're not coming back to London until very late so it's incredible. We really appreciate the support and that means the world to us."

Now, our focus turns to league leaders Manchester City, who we'll host at Meadow Park after the October international break.

"It's going to be a totally different game. We have been playing against very defensive opponents and now we're gonna play against City.

"I think they've been the strongest team in the league so far. It's a great challenge. I love playing against City because it's usually a very exciting game and it's going to be tight. It's going to be even and it's going to be decided with small margins."