Talk about how Arsenal see a Danish team with five different players; With Barcelona beating Hoffenheim 4-0 in their next match in Group C, Arsenal is second, three points clear of Germany in third place and three points behind favorites Barcelona.
Arsenal strengthened their second position in the Women’s Cup Group C with a 5-1 win over HB Koge of Denmark.
When Nikita Parris and Kaylan Marchese (16) saved early penalties, Australia’s Steph Catley started the run from 20 yards (27), the first of five different five-year-olds.
The team took second place at Parris, responding in the box to shoot down the crowd (63), Caitlin Foord taking third just six minutes later, heading home after Jordan Nobbs hit the crossbar (69).
Koge scored his first Champions League goal as Madalyn Pokorny wowed many unnamed Arsenal defenders (71), before taking on the beautiful Anna Patten (85) and Nobbs (89) that ended the win.
They conceded 45 goals in just 15 games this season, scoring four or more goals in nine games.
How did Arsenal take over Denmark?
HB Koge, in his first year in the Champions League, spent an hour in the previous Barcelona game, but it wasn’t long before Arsenal started playing in Denmark.
A penalty was awarded in the 16th minute when Cecilie Floe hit Parris as she went out of the net, but when she was ready Parris saw where she shot and Marchese got away well.
Vivianne Miedema found her header as Marcese saved it again shortly after, but the active goal came in the 27th minute when Catley curled a beautiful free-kick in the top right corner from the edge of the box.
Arsenal had plenty of chances to double before half-time – Leah Williamson missed two and Frida Leonhardsen-Maanum also ran – while the visitors didn’t hit back in the first half and had just 21% possession.
Arsenal continued to lead after the break when Marcese saved Miedema twice in the space of five minutes but it did not keep Parris ahead, who won his last penalty error and shot from wide of the penalty area.
Foord scored his first European goal as Arsenal won 3-0, went home, and returned as Nobbs hit the crossbar from the edge of the box.
But the worrying safety of Catley and Simone Boye Sorensen made Koge laugh, not letting him go twice when Pokorny came in and fell under Lydia Williams. Only Koge scored in that match.
Arsenal put him again to see the game clearly; Sub Patten landed a far corner after Foord’s good work made it 4-1 before Nobbs used his best result of the tournament to score the last goal of the game, curling a corner in the bottom corner by Bet Mead.
Review: Arsenal have shown patience
Rachel Yankey
“Winning well at Arsenal would be nice.
“Arsenal can turn things around, with players without a few minutes, it looks like they are not injured. There will be a lot of work to be done before the FA Cup game against Chelsea at Wembley on December 5.
“There is a lot of character and patience on the part of this team, I think they will be out of this team now, and of course Barcelona will be the biggest test. Home games against them will be a different challenge.”
