Renee Slegers and Kim Little react to Arsenal’s FA Cup exit
Renee Slegers and Kim Little react to Arsenal’s FA Cup exit Arsenal crashed out of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, and both Renée Slegers and Kim Little were clear in the aftermath that the holders had fallen below the standard required against Brighton & Hove Albion. It was a damaging afternoon at Meadow Park for the European champions, who were beaten 2-0 after goals from Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes sent Brighton into the semi-finals. Arsenal thought they had found a way back in to the game when Stina Blackstenius had the ball in the net, only for the effort to be ruled out, and from there the visitors took control of the tie in the moments that mattered.
Fran Kirby created both goals, first slipping Haley through early in the second half and then delivering the corner from which Hayes headed past Daphne van Domselaar . For Slegers, there was no attempt to dress up the result. The Arsenal head coach accepted Brighton deserved to go through and admitted her side simply did not produce enough in attack to turn the tie their way.
“I think we have to put our hands up and own the performance and congratulate Brighton because they managed the game better than us,” she sai d after the game. “They were clinical in the finishes they had, and we didn’t create big enough, and enough chances to win the game today. ” That was the key frustration for Arsenal.
Even after falling two behind, they had territory and pressure, but not the quality to make it count. Slegers felt the problem began earlier, with Arsenal unable to create the rhythm needed to open Brighton up. “I think creating our spaces, and creating rhythm and tempo on the ball was hard for us today,” she explained.
“Playing to the circumstances, we didn’t do as well as Brighton did today and I think because of that it was hard to create spaces in and around the box to create clear cut chances. “So I think the chances we had were quite congested in front of the ball, so the box was congested, or just that final detail when we broke through. ” The immediate consequence is that Arsenal’s FA Cup run is over, but Slegers was also clear that the season still contains major targets, even if that only sharpened the disappointment of this defeat.