Jonas Eidevall blamed after WSL leaders Arsenal lost in Birmingham | Women’s Super League

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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall admitted that the league leaders’ shock 2-0 loss to Birmingham City, which started the day at the bottom of the table, was “100% my responsibility”.

Libby Smith scored his first WSL goal in the third minute to give the hosts the advantage and Veatriki Sarri added a second before the break to complete the victory in which Arsenal always looked second best.

“There were a number of occasions during the game where we lost the ball at the wrong time and didn’t have a good structure around the ball which meant the counter attacks hurt us,” said the Swedish coach.

“We didn’t play well enough under their pressure, and we didn’t break their low block well enough, so very disappointed with our performance today.”

Ahead of the game, Arsenal were undefeated in the league, while the Blues were down winless. However, with former Birmingham player Darren Carter in place as interim manager following Scott Booth’s sack in November, Birmingham appears to be a much more organized and powerful force.

“We weren’t naive enough to think we were going to dominate the ball or the territory in the game,” Carter said. “We knew we had to be good in our structure and form and the players performed it so well. We ask them to do a lot of work and we have asked them to empty the tank. We knew we had some finishers on the bench ready to come in, but I didn’t make a substitution until the 90th minute because they gave us everything.

Lucy Quinn’s pass to free Smith early caught up with Arsenal’s defense and she coldly passed goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger. Sarri hammered the Gunners’ hopes of getting back into the game three minutes before halftime, finishing a move she started and shooting after defender Jen Beattie failed to clear and the midfielder Frida Maanum failed to follow his run.

After conceding 10 goals in 19 games in all competitions until December, Arsenal have since conceded 13 in five and the team’s defensive problems and organizational inconsistency appear far from over.

With Chelsea’s home game against Tottenham – alongside West Ham’s game with Manchester United and Aston Villa’s game with Everton – postponed due to Covid outbreaks, Arsenal maintain a four-point lead over the team Emma Hayes but played one more game. Birmingham, meanwhile, are one point ahead of Leicester at the other end of the table following the Foxes’ 1-0 loss to Reading.

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