Arsenal crashed out of the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Brighton. The Gunners came into the game in flying form, winning 11 of their last 12 games, with that defeat coming last time out in a Champions League quarter-final second leg at Chelsea in midweek that didn’t stop them progressing into the last four. But the Seagulls showed no fear, starting fast against the reigning European champions before making their chances count after the break, as goals from Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes put them into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Brighton deserved to take the lead much earlier than they eventually did. With just two minutes on the clock, Daphne van Domselaar had to produce a great save to deny Jelena Cankovic and the Seagulls nearly scored twice from the resulting corner, only for Laia Codina to come up with two big goalline blocks. When Arsenal started to gain control of the game more after that, it looked like the visitors could have missed their opportunity, but the Gunners couldn’t take theirs either. Mariona Caldentey tested Chiamaka Nnadozie and Smilla Holmberg brought the best out of her not long after, with Stina Blackstenius also firing a shot wide from an admittedly tight angle.
Blackstenius thought she’d continued that momentum for Arsenal after the break and broke the deadlock, only for a soft foul to be called against her on Moeka Minami. Two minutes later, Brighton took advantage of that call, with the Gunners’ poor defending and the Seagulls’ incisive attacking play resulting in Haley thundering a great effort into Van Domselaar’s top corner. They kept their foot down, too, with Carla Camacho going close twice either side of Caitlin Hayes doubling the lead with a terrific header.
Renee Slegers turned to her bench, throwing on Alessia Russo, Olivia Smith, Katie McCabe and more as she tried to rescue a fixture for which she had chosen to rotate, but it was far too late. No team has won the Women’s FA Cup more often than Arsenal but it’s 10 years since their last triumph in this competition, a drought that will go on after this unlikely and frustrating cupset.
GOAL rates Arsenal’s players from Meadow Park…
