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A quick glance at Arsenal’s squad and you’ll see an array of top-class attacking players: Alessia Russo, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Caitlin Foord, Victoria Pelova - the list goes on. Yet, the Gunners’ statistics in the final third this season are among the worst in the Women’s Super League, with no side in the division under-performing its expected goals to a greater degree.
It was a problem that reared its ugly head again last Sunday, at Everton. Arsenal created enough to have won the game long before Russo broke the deadlock with just 10 minutes to go, and that wastefulness came back to haunt them when 16-year-old Issy Hobson became the youngest goal-scorer in WSL history deep into stoppage-time, salvaging a point for her childhood club.
“We need to be better in our effectiveness with chances today,” Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall said afterwards. “It shouldn’t come down to defending a corner in the last minute.”
The Gunners’ title challenge had fizzled out long before this result, and though there are a number of reasons why they’ve not kept up with Manchester City and Chelsea this season, the lack of a consistent clinical touch in the final third is at least one. As the attention turns to next season, it is a department Arsenal simply must get better in – and the good news is that there are reasons to suggest they will.