Arsenal ground out victory on the opening weekend of the WSL season, with Lisa Baum’s wondergoal enough to secure a 1-0 win over a Brighton outfit that has caused Renée Slegers’ team plenty of problems in recent years.
While the overall performance wasn’t the prettiest, Arsenal fans got their first chance to see some of their summer signings in action. Four players made their competitive debuts for the club, and all four played a big part in how the match unfolded.
Crash, Baum, Wallop
Arsenal were held to six draws in the WSL last season, three of them goalless, and it was these stalemates that prevented the Gunners from applying serious pressure to Manchester City. In singing Olivia Smith last summer, Arsenal added a player to their forward line who was capable of producing moments of unpredictability and individual brilliance, and if the very early stages of Lisa Baum’s Arsenal career are anything to go by, Arsenal look to have doubled down on this approach.
The 19-year-old German had started on the right in Arsenal’s publicly viewable pre-season friendlies, cutting in onto her left foot. Against Brighton, Slegers opted to use both wingers on their dominant sides, with Baum on the left and the right-footed Smith on the right. It was from this side that Baum ultimately decided the match in the 10th minute by picking up the ball centrally, dribbling past Lia Wälti and creating enough separation from defender Charlie Rule to crash a near-post left-footed shot in off the underside of the bar.
