Crystal Palace Women held out to achieve an incredible 0-0 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates today on 13 September.
Crystal Palace fans will be in dreamland after one of the biggest results in their history. In their second match of their second ever season in the women’s top flight, the Eagles kept Arsenal at bay at the Emirates in an incredible 0-0 draw.
This leaves Palace with 4 points from their first two games in the WSL this season, showing that Palace really have a chance of pushing to remain in the League. They currently sit fourth in the table, with two more teams left to play.
It was a surprise to see Palace’s big name summer signing Bethany England absent from today’s squad with Abbie Larkin swapping in. No other changes were made from Palace’s winning squad who faced Everton last weekend.
The match saw a reunion with Arsenal for some of Palace’s side, with manager Jo Potter a former Arsenal midfielder, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin having won the WSL with the North London club and Teyah Goldie being an Arsenal academy graduate.
Elsewhere in the League Charlton Athletic lost their second game in a row, while Birmingham City achieved their first point, showing that Palace do appear to be sticking out among the promoted three.
The Eagles will face Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park next Sunday, for another big game with Spurs having a great start to the season. The home crowd could be exactly what the Eagles need to extend this incredible form.
Defensive Unity
Not to draw back to the men’s game too much, but if Palace’s 3-2 defeat to Ipswich on Saturday taught us anything, it was the importance of defensive unity and leadership.
Against Arsenal, Palace really had a unified defence with a strong togetherness that helped them prevent one of the best attacks from scoring. Palace really coped well under pressure, in part aided by the experience of their new defenders: Molly Bartrip, Goldie and Peyraud-Magnin in goal.
Captain Aimee Everett also put in an incredible shift in defence earning her player of the match. Peyraud-Magnin was a standout performer of the match, and an incredible signing on loan for Palace to keep a clean sheet in their first two games. Goldie shortly followed, with an incredible clearance early on and narrowly missing one of Palace’s main chances of the game.
In the first half Arsenal came out strong, but chances from Caldenty and Lisa Baum hit the bar, while Alexia Russo went side. The Gunners really struggled to convert their chances, especially against what you would expect from this team. They had 30 shots against Palace’s two, with 79% possession and 73 touches inside the opposition’s box against Palace’s 4.
This game proved how Palace can react defensively against a team that push for high possession football, with a high volume of shots. The result also shows incredible growth, after Palace’s last three competitive games against Arsenal have all ended in tough defeats and high scoring results.
