If there was a perfect response to a chaotic 48 hours then it was this.
A comfortable victory after the resignation of their manager, Jonas Eidevall, was exactly what Arsenal needed. Perfect performance? Not quite. There were still times Arsenal looked blunted in attack and two of their four goals came when Valerenga looked to have run out of steam. But the scoreline is what matters for interim boss Renee Slegers.
It was clear things had become stale under Eidevall, who stepped down from his role on Tuesday following a poor start to the season. He no longer had the backing of the fans or his players and it was the right time for him to step down.
Slegers would not be drawn on whether she wants this job on a permanent basis, with her brief to get the club through Wednesday night’s game and Sunday’s visit to West Ham.
The Dutch coach is understood to be popular with Arsenal’s players, but she also worked closely with Eidevall and it is unclear how different she would be to her former colleague.
Managerless Arsenal won their first Women’s Champions League group game of the season
Alessia Russo scored their fourth goal of the night in a dominant win at the Emirates Stadium
This group perhaps needs a new voice and new ideas. But there is no denying this result strengthens Slegers’ case if she does decide to put herself forward for the job.
Whoever replaces Eidevall must ensure they get the best out of Arsenal’s attacking options. There is a feeling that Eidevall’s system did not play to Russo’s strengths and that she was not deployed effectively during his reign. Russo scored the final goal in stoppage time, which should do her confidence no harm.
The overriding problem Arsenal had under Eidevall was their inability to break down low blocks. While they managed four goals against Valerenga, they still found themselves frustrated in attack and often looked vulnerable to the Norwegian side’s counter-attacks.
But there were signs of improvement and the opening goal came inside two minutes. Emily Fox was the first to react to a loose ball in the penalty area and fired an effort through bodies.
There looked to be a handball from Russo in the build-up but it was not spotted by the referee.
Caitlin Foord then doubled the Gunners’ lead on the half hour mark with a finish at the back-post, but Valerenga pulled a goal back shortly after. Laia Codina was robbed of possession and Olaug Tvedten had time and space to finish in the bottom right corner.
Arsenal dominated the majority of the second half but nearly conceded when Karina Saevik ghosted past Codina and Leah Williamson before firing over. Valerenga needed their goalkeeper Tove Enblom to make a number of impressive saves before Caldentey doubled Arsenal’s advantage. Russo then rounded off the victory with a cool finish in added time.
