Right, that’s it from me. I will leave you with Suzanne Wrack’s match report from Meadow Park:
Arsenal took their time but got the three points they needed to move within touching distance of the quarter-finals
Updated
Wed 17 Nov 2021 17.10 EST
First published on Wed 17 Nov 2021 14.00 EST
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So that leaves Arsenal needing just a point from their final two group games to qualify for the quarter-finals, though they’d have to hammer Barcelona in one of them to have any chance of taking top spot.
Full-time: Arsenal 3-0 HB Køge
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEP!!! All over and job done for Arsenal, with little fuss in the end though they laboured for long periods and had that one huge scare with 15 minutes to go.
90 min Just two minutes of added time to play
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 HB Køge (Miedema 88)
This is a terrific goal. Catley sends a lovely curling ball down the left channel with her left foot. Miedema, running beyond her marker, brings the ball under her spell with her right then lofts a classy finish past Marckese with her left. She has been a class apart since springing from the bench.
86 min Køge shouldn’t allow that to deflate them too much. They’ve been within touching distance of both Arsenal and Barcelona for longer periods than anyone would’ve reasonably expected, even if it’s meant parking the old proverbial bus to do so.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 HB Køge (Wubben-Moy 83)
Finally, finally, Arsenal have their second. Nobbs’s pinged corner finds Wubben-Moy thundering in at the near post and she makes no mistake with her header. Relief all round at Meadow Park.
80 min: What a chance for Nobbs! Maanum scoops a Poborskyesque pass in for her charging midfield colleague, who opens up her body smartly then calmly sidefoots wide of the far post with Marckese helpless. That could’ve settled the nerves.
78 min: Køge make their first change, with Sajewich coming off to be replaced by Fitzgerald.
76 min: So close to an equaliser! And it took brilliant reflex save from Williams to deny Pokorny after she pounced on Catley’s hesitation in the middle of her own box. A heart-in-mouth moment for the Gunners.
73 min: Miedema gets a sight of goal as a deflected cross drops onto her instep on the penalty spot. then she gets a second but Obaze does remarkably well to deny the striker as Mead’s pass looks to have given her a tap in. They may not have the quality of others in the Champions League but there’s no doubting Køge’s heart.
72 min: One-way traffic now as Arsenal search for a second.
70 min: Maanum has a go from distance but Marckese is able to drop on the effort quite comfortably. Just prior to that there was an important touch from Svendsen to prevent Miedema getting on the end of Mead’s pass.
69 min: … punched away by Marckese, sliced on the volley from Nobbs as she tried to return it with interest.
68 min: … and another …
67 min: Miedema brilliantly turns away from her defender and sees her shot blocked. Corner to Arsenal …
65 min: Miedema immediately creates a chance for Mead with a terrific chip into the box but Mead can’t properly connect with her stretching header.
63 min: It looks like Foord has shifted left to make room for Miedema down the middle.
61 min: And Eidevall makes a triple change. Parris, Beattie and McCabe for Maanum, Miedema and Catley.
60 min: You can sense a hint of frustration on and off the pitch now – this second half has been far more even than Jonas Eidevall would have liked.
57 min: McCabe zips in another cracking cross … but again there’s only a green shirt there to meet it.
56 min: … it’s a bit of a double bluff as it’s worked back first then launched forward. Arsenal initially clear and then, when the ball is returned, pick up a slightly soft free-kick as Fløe Nielsen looks to run in on goal.
55 min: Pokorny scurries down the right and wins her team an attacking throw-in down the right that Færge is set to launch into the box …
53 min: Færge slides a nice ball down the right channel for Carusa to chase and she looks to have won a corner … but the decision goes the other way. With just one goal in it there’s still a chance – however slim – that Køge could nick one and really send any Arsenal anxiety into overdrive.
50 min: You feel a second goal would likely bring three and four for the Gunners but Køge deal well with another couple of crosses flung into their box.
49 min: Køge, as they did in the first half, have begun brightly.
47 min: Carusa does superbly to hold the ball up on the right and puts her low cross into a dangerous area where, unfortunately for Køge, Kim Little is in attendance.
Peep! As the strains of London Calling over the Tannoy fade away, off we go again. (Is London Calling one of those songs, like Born In The USA, that’s misused in sporting contexts? Or does it work? Perhaps a Clash fan can let me know …)
Some half-time reading, and it’s a great writing about a great – Richard Williams on David Lacey:
Peep! PEEEP!! And that’s the last action of the half. Arsenal have had next to nothing to worry about at the back but have struggled to create a massive amount despite dominating the ball.
45 min: Decent save from Marckese as Parris finally gets a chance to sprint down the right channel into space. Her effort is turned away for a corner … that’s kneed over the bar by Patten! That wasn’t far away.
43 min: A wonderful pass from Wälti finds Mead’s angled run but the flag goes up. Mead rounds the keeper and scores … and replays shows she was a yard on.
42 min: … scuffed rather miserably towards the near post and Arsenal clear without too much fuss.
41 min: Færge thunks a free-kick on halfway towards the Arsenal box and after a couple of neat passes Carusa wins a corner …
39 min: Patten scoops a ball into the box from the right but Marckese is out quickly to claim.
38 min: Little sees her effort from the edge of the box blocked by a defender.
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