Wasted Chances, Heavy Consequences

September 27, 2025  Emirates Stadium, London

Renée Slegers knew the danger. Aston Villa, bruising and direct, had humiliated Arsenal 5–2 last spring. Saturday offered a chance for redemption.

Arsenal arrived in bittersweet circumstances. The club had just been honoured as Club of the Year at the Ballon d’Or, yet the individual prizes carried frustration: Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey were overlooked.

Arsenal began brightly. Russo’s cross found Mead but hesitated on her 150th WSL appearance. The chance: gone. Olivia Smith combined with Maanum, her low cross forcing a corner. From the pressure, Caldentey struck from the edge of the box, her shot deflected wide. Moments later, Villa faltered and Caldentey slipped the ball to Maanum, who finished coolly for her third league goal of the season. One-nil, and Arsenal looked set to roll.

Yet doubt lingered. Emily Fox, reckless in one moment and enterprising in the next, lunged into a rash challenge to concede a free kick; Lynne Wilms bent it over the wall, Van Domselaar forced into a sharp save. When Fox surged forward soon after, she passed instead of shooting, Russo’s tame effort easily gathered by Sabrina D’Angelo. Again, hesitation.

Arsenal’s chances piled up but went unclaimed: Mead cushioning McCabe’s free kick across goal, Maanum inches from a second, McCabe denied by D’Angelo’s fingertips. Arsenal were dominant, but wasteful.

Villa stirred before the break, Grant blazing over. After half-time, they pressed harder. Grant and Hanson both went close, Patten hooked wide from a corner. Arsenal’s substitutions — Foord, Pelova, later Kelly and Hinds — brought energy but not clarity.

There were flashes of resistance. Fox released Mead, who found Catley, who teed up McCabe — her fierce strike brilliantly tipped over. Pelova saw her effort blocked in the box. Still, the second goal would not come.

The punishment did. In the 88th minute, Lucy Parker rose unmarked from a corner and powered her header in. Villa had threatened all half; the equaliser felt inevitable.

Arsenal finished with 19 shots, 46 touches in the opposition box, but only Maanum’s name on the scoresheet. The echo of last season was cruel: Villa again derailing Arsenal’s pursuit, just as they had before Chelsea closed out the title. Another slip, after Old Trafford, and top spot gone.

Arsenal 1 – 1 Aston Villa

(F. Maanum ‘10, L. Parker ‘90+4)