Arsenal left Scotland with three wins out of three under their belt, after beating Scottish champions Glasgow City 4-2 at Petershill Park. Previous wins over Celtic (8-0) and Rangers (9-0), highlighted the strength of the English Champions and despite City taking a 2-0 lead, a powerful Arsenal side turned it around in the second half to win what was a very entertaining match of football. Arsenal manager Laura Harvie had brought two full sides – the first and the reserve teams – up to Scotland to play the three games She said: "Today was by far our biggest challenge over the weekend as we knew it would be. It was not our perfect start, but we worked hard and although scores don’t matter, we are pleased with the win".
Emma Mitchell and Steph Houghton (c) Andy Buist Glasgow City got today's game underway in lightening fashion and were on the attack right from the first whistle. A fantastic shot from distance by Jane Ross beat Emma Byrne in the Arsenal nets, only to see the ball cannon down off the cross bar. As Arsenal attempted to get the ball clear, City midfielder Jo Love controlled well and under pressure fired past Byrne to put City ahead in under a minute of play. Soon after, City were 2-0 up when Steph Houghton blocked a Lisa Evans shot with her hand inside the penalty box. Up stepped Leanne Ross to put the resultant dead ball away to give City a two goal cushion. Arsenal tried to comeback but Lee Alexander in the City goals saved well, firstly from Jordan Nobbs and then from the feet of Ellen White. Half time 2-0. Within minutes of the game restarting, Arsenal pulled a goal back when Kate Chapman pounced to fire a loose ball home after an Arsenal corner kick. City centre half Danica Dalziel saw a header come back off the post, but even if it had gone in, it wouldn’t have counted as the assistant flagged for offside. Steph Houghton then got Arsenal back on level terms with an excellent low shot from distance as Arsenal worked a free kick well. Unfortunately for the home side a bad mistake at the back with 15 minutes to go cost them dearly as misplaced pass across the box went straight to Kim Little, who only had Alexander to beat under no pressure whatsoever. The Scotland midfielder rarely misses any chance and she was certainly not going to miss this one as she put her team 3-2 ahead. In dying minutes Arsenal made it 4-2 after an excellent goal from England midfielder Kate Chapman beat Alexander low down to her right. Christie Murray v Arsenal by Andy Buist City Head Coach Eddie Wolecki Black said: "I was really happy with the first half. We got round the ball very well and forced Arsenal to concede possession and I thought we were the better side. In the second there is no doubt we made a couple of errors which cost us. We made six changes in the match, whilst Arsenal only made one and that obviously had an affect on the balance of the match and to be honest was the deciding factor. But these games are friendlies and we have got our own agenda at this stage of the season, which is different than Arsenal who of course are due to play in the quarter finals of the Champions League very soon."Source: FOOTYMAD
