Football May 02, 2026

Arsenal 7-0 Leicester: Gunners fire WSL title warning to leaders Man City as Stina Blackstenius scores twice

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Arsenal 7-0 Leicester: Gunners fire WSL title warning to leaders Man City as Stina Blackstenius scores twice

Arsenal sent an emphatic warning to leaders Manchester City that the Women's Super League title race is far from over with a thumping 7-0 win over bottom-side Leicester at the Emirates Stadium.

Stina Blackstenius and Smilla Holmberg scored two each, while Mariona Caldentey and Leah Williamson also got in on the act after Frida Maanum headed the opener on her 100th WSL appearance.

The Gunners climb above Man Utd into third, two points behind second-placed Chelsea and eight behind City. They do, however, still have two games in hand and four left to play overall.

The next comes at Brighton on Wednesday May 6 at 7.45pm, live on Your Site Football.

A 15th defeat of the season means Leicester will finish the season bottom of the WSL. As a result, they will face the team who finishes third in the WSL 2 - either Charlton, Birmingham or Crystal Palace - in a promotion/relegation play-off, with their top-flight status on the line.

Whether it was a direct result of Arsenal boss Renee Slegers resting players, including Williamson and Alessia Russo, ahead of the weekend's Champions League semi-final second leg against Lyon, it took a while for the game to warm up in north London.

The Gunners were dominating, but it took 25 minutes for them to begin to seize control. And after they did, they did not take their foot off the gas.

On her milestone evening, Maanum played a key role in the first three goals. Having opened the scoring herself, she teed up Holmberg to score her first goal since a January move from Hammarby just over two minutes later.

Emily Fox then rattled the crossbar as the hosts went for the jugular, but it was 3-0 with 41 minutes gone, when Maanum chipped the ball into Blackstenius, who converted with a deft touch. Deep into first-half stoppage time, she added another, helping Victoria Pelova's pass into an empty net.

That was Arsenal's 100th goal of the Slegers era, and they made it 101 just two minutes after the restart when Holmberg tapped in after being picked out by Olivia Smith.

Williamson also got in on the act when she powered in at the near post and, when that hit the net, it seemed the record for the biggest win in WSL history - Arsenal's 11-1 victory over Bristol City in December 2019 - would be under serious threat with almost half an hour of the 90 minutes still to play.

But the Gunners could afford to ease up and settle for their joint-third biggest win in the competition.

Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers speaking to Your Site:

"It's the Arsenal way you saw today. With these short turnarounds and being active in different competitions, it's really important to be in the here and now and focused on the task, and we were.

"We did so many things so well in the game, so really happy with how we stayed disciplined throughout with different players playing in different positions. It was a really good team performance. I'm really happy with the clean sheet.

"I've said it so many times, but the readiness of the players is so good and we trust every single player to play. We know they can play different roles for the team as well. Everyone knows the role they can play and everyone is bringing their strengths.

"There are such high levels of communication and trust within the team on the pitch and off the pitch. But we have nothing yet, so we have to keep on pushing.

"I don't know [if we can catch Man City]. We go step by step. Today was one game and we did what we needed to do. That's really good, but we have to recover straight after and, in three days, we have the next game coming up against Lyon."

Leicester manager Rick Passmoor speaking to Your Site:

"Disappointing performance, disappointing result. We know we are in the play-off game so our focus now is these next two games to put us in a position ready for the play-off game.

"As we know, WSL 2 is full of talent, very organised and very well coached. We have to accept it and be responsible for our preparations across the board.

"It's all to do with confidence. Also in terms of morale, being together. There's a lot of deflated bodies out there now. We've got to look at that side and our mentality. Up until the first goal, we defended well and played well. We looked after the ball really well at times. We've got to make sure that when the tide turns, we are staying in the games.

"It's going to be a challenge. Everyone has got to be united. We have to bring our specialist areas into the training ground every day to make sure the girls are ready for the play-off game. We've got to remain together in the trenches. It might just take one scruffy goal to change the mindset of the group.

"We control the controllable. The play-off is a one off."

Tags:

football report

Share this article

Related Posts

Reading 1-3 Cardiff: Bluebirds clinch promotion back to the Championship

Reading 1-3 Cardiff: Bluebirds clinch promotion back to the Championship

Cardiff secured promotion back to the Championship with a 3-1 win over Reading.An extraordinary 96th-minute equaliser from Exeter goalkeeper Jack Bycr...

Bristol City 2-4 Norwich City: Mohamed Toure hat-trick steers Canaries to victory

Bristol City 2-4 Norwich City: Mohamed Toure hat-trick steers Canaries to victory

Mohamed Toure netted a second-half hat-trick as Norwich came from behind to beat Roy Hodgson's Bristol City 4-2 in a mid-table Championship battle at...

Dunfermline 0-0 Falkirk (Dunfermline won 4-2 on pens): The Pars into Scottish Cup final after dramatic penalty shootout win at Hampden Park

Dunfermline 0-0 Falkirk (Dunfermline won 4-2 on pens): The Pars into Scottish Cup final after dramatic penalty shootout win at Hampden Park

Dunfermline Athletic moved one step closer to a first Scottish Cup triumph since 1968 with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over bitter rivals Falk...

JJ Gabriel, Chido Obi on target as Man Utd reach FA Youth Cup final with Crystal Palace win

JJ Gabriel, Chido Obi on target as Man Utd reach FA Youth Cup final with Crystal Palace win

Manchester United booked an FA Youth Cup final against neighbours Manchester City after beating Crystal Palace 2-1.Chido Obi scored the winner in extr...

Behdad Eghbali: Chelsea co-owner on Liam Rosenior, transfer policy and Enzo Maresca departure in rare interview

Behdad Eghbali: Chelsea co-owner on Liam Rosenior, transfer policy and Enzo Maresca departure in rare interview

Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali has said the club will start signing "ready-made" players and revealed the departure of former head coach Enzo Maresca...

Marcus Rashford: Man United boss Michael Carrick says no decison has been made over on-loan Barcelona forward's Old Trafford future

Marcus Rashford: Man United boss Michael Carrick says no decison has been made over on-loan Barcelona forward's Old Trafford future

Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick says no decision has been made over Marcus Rashford's future at Old Trafford. The 28-year-old forward...