Arsenal were knocked out of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, after suffering a surprise 2-0 home defeat to Brighton. The Gunners came into this match in great shape, with 11 victories in their last 12 matches; their only defeat came in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, played in midweek at Chelsea, which did not prevent them from qualifying for the semi-finals. But the Seagulls showed no fear, starting strongly against the reigning European champions before capitalizing on their chances after the break. Goals from Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes saw them through to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Brighton should have taken the lead much earlier than they did. After just two minutes of play, Daphne van Domselaar had to make a superb save to deny a Jelena Cankovic strike, and the Seagulls almost scored twice from the ensuing corner, but Laia Codina made two decisive saves on the goal line. As Arsenal began to take control of the match afterwards, it looked like the visitors might have missed their chance, but the Gunners failed to take theirs either. Mariona Caldentey put Chiamaka Nnadozie to the test and Smilla Holmberg pushed her to give her best soon after, while Stina Blackstenius also fired wide from an admittedly tight angle.
Blackstenius thought she had continued the momentum for Arsenal after the break and opened the scoring, but a slight foul was called against her on Moeka Minami. Two minutes later, Brighton took advantage of this decision: the Gunners’ faltering defense and the Seagulls’ incisive attacking play allowed Haley to send a powerful shot into Van Domselaar’s top corner. The Seagulls continued their momentum, with Carla Camacho narrowly missing the goal twice, while Caitlin Hayes doubled the lead with a superb header.
Renee Slegers turned to her bench, bringing in Alessia Russo, Olivia Smith, Katie McCabe and other players to try to salvage a game she had chosen to rotate her squad for, but it was far too late. No team has won the Women’s FA Cup more often than Arsenal, but it has been 10 years since the club last triumphed in this competition, a drought which will continue after this surprise and frustrating defeat.
GOAL notes the Arsenal players at Meadow Park…
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