Frida Maanum said Arsenal’s 7-0 win over Leicester City “felt good” after delivering one of her strongest performances of the season, scoring the opening goal and adding two assists as the club prepare for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.
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Arsenal defeated Leicester City 7-0 on Wednesday ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Saturday, with Frida Maanum producing an excellent performance, scoring the opener and adding two assists.
I spoke to Maanum after the game and asked how she felt it had gone.
“It felt good,” she said. “I think it’s a good team performance. I think we scored seven nice goals. And it’s obviously amazing to be back at Emirates and play in front of the fans here.”
As I was alone in the mixed zone, I was able to show her my drawing of Arsenal’s tactics and point out where I thought she had been so effective. Her positioning between the lines was excellent, she received the ball repeatedly in dangerous areas and was able to provide multiple key passes into the forward line behind the Leicester defence.
Her partnership up front with Stina Blackstenius looked as strong as it did under Jonas Eidevall before Alessia Russo arrived at the club. Maanum was also able to distribute the ball towards the wings, registering an assist for Smilla Holmberg.
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“In the first half, I felt like it was a lot of space between the lines, and I’m always trying to find those pockets to then play my teammates in good positions,” she said. “And yeah, felt like we did that well as a team today.”
Maanum was typically humble after an excellent individual performance, crediting the team for the result rather than focusing on her own contribution.
It was, overall, a strong Arsenal display, with Holmberg, Emily Fox, Blackstenius and Victoria Pelova all contributing positively.
We also spoke to Rick Passmoor, the Leicester City manager, who is in a difficult position as his side prepare to fight for survival in the play-off game against the third-placed team in WSL 2.
Leicester lost 5-1 on Sunday and 7-0 on Wednesday, and are bottom of the table by a considerable margin.
I have known Passmoor for more than 20 years, and he is a good and respectable guy.
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The situation at Leicester City was messy at the beginning of the season, with Amandine Miquel sacked and the succession that followed ending badly. You have to wonder how much of an impact that had on their season.
The win strengthens Arsenal’s league position. They have overtaken Manchester United and sit third, two points ahead of United, with two games in hand.
Mark Skinner has been United manager since 29 July 2001, and it might be time for a change there. Five years is a long time in a job nowadays.
Arsenal are also two points behind Chelsea in second place, again with two games in hand. Those matches, away to Brighton and Aston Villa, will not be easy. Brighton are in excellent form, having beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup and Manchester City 3-2 at home.
In terms of the title race, there is no real title race. Manchester City are seven points clear, although Arsenal have two games in hand.
City still have Liverpool at home and West Ham away.
Opta Analyst gave Arsenal a 1.1 per cent chance, and even if that has improved, it is not going to happen unless there is a miracle.
