Photo by Dominic Lipinski/PA
Irish Women’s National Soccer Team (WNT) captain Katie McCabe and England star Alessia Russo played a major role in securing a 2-1 victory for the gunners over Aston Villa on Saturday, 14 October.
That moment. Emirates Stadium erupts ❤️
🤝 @MastercardUK pic.twitter.com/kqk5SqoPNo
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) October 15, 2023
Even though Arsenal were set to win the match, the first goal of the night came 24 minutes in from Aston Villa’s Maz Pacheco who was able to head the ball into the net following a corner kick.
As the match seemingly drew to a close at 91 minutes overtime, Katie McCabe ran down the left side of the pitch, receiving a pass from Caitlin Ford before capitalising on their overlap and shooting the ball into the top right hand corner of the net.
Three minutes later, Alessia Russo saved the gunners, scoring her Women’s Super League (WSL) goal for Arsenal in a straight line from where she stood. The ball then fell underneath van Domselaar’s glove who couldn’t quite save it on time.
In a post-match interview, McCabe said, “It was an unbelievable team performance. We played right to the very end and I think it shows the mentality in this team. The girls coming off the bench and making the impact they did, and you know what, 35,000 fans here to cheer us on at the Emirates was unbelievable, so we’re just delighted to get the win for them today.”
yeah the girls 🤍 pic.twitter.com/jsLPsdPelF
— Katie McCabe (@Katie_McCabe11) October 15, 2023
McCabe recently extended her contract with Arsenal at the end of September, marking her ninth season with the north London side.
Outside of the Women’s Super League (WSL), McCabe has stood out in the Nations League B window. Her far out power goal against Hungary was one of the main reasons Ireland now stand at the top of the league table. The Irish captain has also been nominated for the Ballon D’Or, one of the greatest awards a footballer could receive.