Bristol City Women 1 – 2 Arsenal Women

Katie McCabe scored twice as Arsenal beat Bristol City 2-1 in front of a record 12,008 crowd at Ashton Gate in the Women’s Super League.

McCabe put Arsenal in front with a powerful strike from range after seven minutes before Rachel Furness equalised for Bristol City with a glancing header, which was their only attempt of the game.

Bristol City’s game plan to frustrate Arsenal was working until their resistance broke just before the hour. McCabe’s deflected shot following a set-piece wrong-footed Bristol City goalkeeper Olivia Clark and they failed to recover.

Vivianne Miedema played for the first time in 11 months after suffering an ACL injury in December 2022, replacing Alessia Russo in stoppage-time while Beth Mead got more valuable minutes under her belt off the bench.

Arsenal remain in seventh, two points outside the top three, after their first back-to-back wins of the season. Bristol City, meanwhile, are still looking for their first points of the league season.

How Arsenal overcame Bristol City

Arsenal took control of the game at Ashton Gate early on as a pattern quickly emerged of attack against defence. Caitlin Foord, on her 100th appearance for the Gunners, struck the near post inside five minutes and it looked as though the hosts would be in for a long night.

McCabe then struck from range to give Arsenal the lead after seven minutes with Bristol City goalkeeper Clark unable to get across to keep out the left-footed effort. Bristol City, it seemed, were at risk of being on the end of another thrashing following last weekend’s 5-0 defeat to Man City.

Bristol City responded with a goal against the run of play nine minutes later. Furness, perhaps afforded too much room, guided Jamie-Lee Napier’s cross into the far corner with her head. Manuela Zinsberger, the Arsenal goalkeeper, could do nothing as Bristol City’s only effort of the game went in off the post.

Arsenal were ruffled by Bristol City’s equaliser and failed to rediscover the intensity they started the game with. The visitors thought they should have had a penalty when Lia Walti was brought down in a tussle with Ella Powell at a corner just before the break, but referee Adewunmi Soneye disagreed.

Bristol City stuck with the low block in the second half and had to ride their luck. Clark unconvincingly parried Victoria Pelova’s shot into the path of McCabe, who was denied a certain goal by Bristol City captain Megan Connolly’s block.

Arsenal needed a shade of fortune to break down the Bristol City stand, with McCabe’s right-footed shot taking a deflection off Aspin’s head before finding a way past Clark. The hosts failed to regain a foothold in the game after Arsenal’s second.

The introduction of Mead drew one of the biggest cheers of the night at Ashton Gate after the hour. She nearly made an instant impact but her guided header from the cross of McCabe was just a few yards wide of the post.

Miedema came on in stoppage time with the points all but sealed. Despite being on for less than five minutes, the Netherlands forward kick-started an attack that was nearly converted by Foord. It took a last-ditch block from Napier to keep it out.

What’s next?

After the international break, Bristol City travel to West Ham on Sunday November 5 in the WSL; kick-off 3pm. Arsenal play on the same day, welcoming Man City to Meadow Park; kick-off 12.30pm.