FA Cup Report: Arsenal 5 - 1 Watford

Arsenal have progressed to the fifth round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup following a dominant display against Championship side Watford at home.

Decked in pure white as a nod to sponsor Adidas’ No More Red campaign, which was first launched in 2022 to support work carried out by the Gunners to keep young people safe from knife crime and youth violence, the 14-time competition winners proved to be a class apart from The Golden Girls.

Shots on goal for the visitors were as sparse as the leaves on the trees that lined Meadow Park's Car Park, leaving the respectable contingent of Hertfordshire travelling fans with little to shout about.

The 5-1 scoreline did not truly reflect the relentless waves of attack Arsenal launched against Watford who posed a threat weaker than the faint January sunlight.

In stark contrast, stalking Watford's defensive line, Caitlin Foord, Vivianna Miedema, Alessia Russo and Beth Mead pressed relentlessly, their insatiable appetite for goal rewarded when Russo pounced on Watford keeper Jacqui Goldsmids  spill in the 6th minute.

New signing USWNT star Emily Fox, having been introduced to much aplomb for her debut game on the tannoy, was lively on the pitch, linking up with Mead on the right hand side and winning the corner that led to Arsenal's second goal, the ball landing at Swiss international Lia Walti's feet, before she placed it into the bottom right hand corner.

With 25 minutes gone, Watford struggled to find a foothold in the game.

They did have passages of play where they looked promising, sending Mead and Fox to the deck with deft turns and passes in the second half, however their runs were cut short on the flanks by both Lotte Wubben Moy and Amanda Illesdstat.

For the remainder of the first half, Arsenal peppered the Watford goal with chance after chance, the best opportunities falling to Russo who hit the woodwork before pulling the ball wide of the left post in a one on one with the keeper.

McCabe, now a familiar site at the right corner flag, delivered a number of threatening balls that flustered Jacqui Goldsmid, causing her to drop the ball several times in the opening fourty five.

Dutch international Miedema, looking the sharpest she has since returning to play following her ACL injury, lurked dangerously in front of goal, her feet light in and around the box, yet she failed to capitalise on two attempts at goal.

Despite their team's missed chances, Arsenal fans were in high spirits, their rendition of Kim Wildes ‘Kids In America’, a nod to the North Carolina pipeline that shaped three of their starters - Russo, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Fox.

At the half-time whistle, as the sprinklers powered and irrigated the pitch, you couldn't help but feel that Watford's attack needed its own watering, so wilted was the squads build and link up play.

There was a slight delay in the return of the visitors to the pitch, while Arsenal bounced and stretched, eager for more.

Perhaps Watford foresaw the onslaught to come, Arsenal putting three more passed Goldsmid in the second half.

In truth it could have been 11 or 12, if Goldsmid had not redeemed herself with impressive stops from multiple shots, the most notable of which fired by Cloe Lacasse and Frida Maanum.

Perhaps with Arsenal's crucial WSL clash against The Toffees next weekend in mind, Eidevall, business like as he patrolled the touchline  in a black mack, in the 64th minute replaced Miedema, Foord, Walti and Russo with Frida Maanum, Cloe Lacasse, Stena Blackstenius and young gun Kyra Cooney-Cross.

Watford too made a number of changes in an attempt to reinvigorate their side, but it was to no avail.

Arsenal’s super sub Swede, Stena Blackstenius, did not fail to disappoint, her first touch in the 66th minute a deft chip over the left shoulder of the Watford number one, rewarding The Gunners for their efforts.

Arsenal were now in cruise control, a fact betrayed by their coaching staff on the bench who were caught yawning by an FA player camera operator as their side comfortably shifted into a 3-0 lead.

Yet their defence was too caught napping when Arsenal loanee Michelle Agyemang netted what would be a consolation prize in the 77th minute for Watford against her parent club after Lotte Wubben-Moy gave the ball away playing out from the back.

The Gunners added two more to their tally in the 86th and 89th minute respectively when Amanda Ilestedt towered at the back post and headed home Arsenal’s fourth from a corner to make it four-one, before Maanum rolled a Blackstenius assist into the bottom right hand corner.

The game ended on a subdued note, Beth Mead clutching her right knee following a strong challenge, Arsenal fans no doubt expelling a sigh of relief when she finally got to her feet, smiling just in time for the post match huddle.

Silverware is still very much within Arsenal's grasp.

Into the hat for the @AdobeWFACup Fifth Round! pic.twitter.com/ehb3uImxpD

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) January 14, 2024