Renée Slegers’ side travelled to Crawley today to take on Brighton, a team looking to secure fifth position, that has never beaten Arsenal. After a disappointing performance against Aston Villa last week, the Gunners were looking to turn it around, get three points, and secure second in the table. Here’s a breakdown of the action:

The home side came racing out of the blocks, with two shots on target in the opening 2 minutes. Manuela Zinsberger made two early saves, but Brighton kept coming, putting on the pressure from the off.

After an unrelaxing start for the Arsenal defence, they managed to counterattack, with Alessia Russo running in possession down the right, sending a ball into Caitlin Foord who made the run into the box, eventually sending a shot wide after a one-on-one battle with the Brighton’s Sophie Baggaley.

After their first attempt, Arsenal seemed to settle into the game, pressing the opposition who played with five at the back, Baggaley was forced to claim a few balls into the box, but the Gunners couldn’t seem to convert their chances.

The high-tempo game continued, and Brighton’s pressure paid off, as Frank Kirby found herself in possession at the edge of the box, her excellent strike finding its way past Zinsberger, into the back of the net, giving the Seagulls the lead.

Arsenal tried to equalise straight away, with an off-target attempt from Foord, and the pressure continued, with more balls into the box, but once again, no success.

Finally, the Gunners’ press saw a fantastic cross from Mariona Caldentey, which found Foord, who managed to find the back of the net after her first attempt was saved. A great team goal for the visitors.

Brighton tried to respond immediately, with Leah Williamson having to body block Kirby’s ball in. Despite Arsenal having ¾ of the possession, this game has felt rather end-to-end with Arsenal continuing to work the ball round the Brighton box, keeping Baggaley very busy. 

A final wave of attack from the home side before the break, saw them win themselves a corner, and a great volley from Jelena ?ancovi? gave Brighton the lead again. The first half ended 2-1.

The second half started like the first did, with Brighton on the front foot. Arsenal’s looked shaky in the midfield, with the home side turning over the ball and attacking. The Gunners’ back line was full of mistakes, leading to Cancovic scoring her second after an error from Zinsberger. 

Within a matter of minutes, the Arsenal defence was broken down again, with Kiko Seike beating Katie McCabe and finishing her chance, giving Brighton a 4-1 lead. 

Slegers made a quadruple change in the 60th minute, bringing on Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius, Jenna Nighswonger and Lia Wälti. An attempt to steady the ship for Arsenal. However, the changes didn’t seem to change much on the pitch.

Brighton looked more and more dangerous, and whenever Arsenal did manage to attack, they were unable to finish any of their chances with Baggaley seeming to claim every ball across, an outstanding performance from her. 

Blackstenius’ pace and physicality gave her some chances after her introduction to the game, but nothing came of her attempts. Foord’s quest for a goal continued, seeing her go down in the box and call for a penalty which wasn’t given. None of her teammates seemed to be able to get on the end of her crosses, the story of the day for Arsenal. 

The defensive disaster continued for Arsenal, and they were lucky not to concede a fifth as Brighton ran riot all over the pitch. 

In stoppage time, a loose ball from Brighton’s backline was picked up by Caldentey who, with an excellent strike, found the back of the net, giving Arsenal their second, a bit of a consolation prize for the travelling fans.

A great turn and strike from Russo forced Baggaley into a key save, giving Arsenal a corner, a final roll of the dice for the visitors, defended well by Brighton at first, with Nighswonger hitting the crossbar from their clearance.

The final whistle signalled the end of the game, the score 4-2. Another disappointing performance for Arsenal, but a huge result for Brighton as they beat the Gunners for the first time in WSL history.