Arsenal head coach, Renée Slegers, admits that the Gunners 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in the Fourth Round of the Women's FA Cup was a game of numbers.
The Gunners had the larger share of possession in the first half of the match with 56%, but they had fewer shots than their opponents, though the biggest chance of the first half came in stoppage time from Rachel Maltby. She would have given Villa the lead going into the break if not for a wonderful block from Beth Mead.
In the second period, Arsenal were much more dominant in an attacking sense, managing more shots than Villa (12/5) and shots on target (5/1). Most importantly, they got the goals that the performance deserved.
Slegers believes that Arsenal played with much more intensity in the second half, which helped them win the match, alongside pushing more options into the final third.
"I think our intensity went up a bit, clarity on what we wanted to achieve, so that is always easier if you have clarity that you can do it with a bit more intensity.
"It was a numbers game, how many numbers did we want and where, when it came to our attacking game in the final third. I think that worked out well.
She also spoke about the role that set pieces played today, particularly as Kim Little's goal came from a corner.
"I am happy for the team. They are very good at set- pieces Villa, especially attacking set pieces, but they have conceded when defending set-pieces, so we knew it was an area that was going to be important, so I am really happy that we got that goal.
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