Four second half goals against Brighton, in under 20 minutes, have propelled Arsenal into the Subway League Cup semi-finals, as Frida Maanum, Katie McCabe, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mariona Caldentey all put their names on the scoresheet in their 4-0 quarterfinal victory.
The floodgates opened in the 65th minute, after the Albion gifted the Gunners the game’s first goal, when substitute Caldentey latched onto a poor pass from the back and laid it on a plate for Maanum to score.
Embed from Getty ImagesAlessia Russo provided the assist a few minutes later for a McCabe tap in which doubled the away side’s lead.
The best goal out of the lot though may have belonged to Cooney-Cross, who fired a powerful shot into the top right corner only five minutes after Arsenal scored their first.
Embed from Getty ImagesAn exclamation point on a completely dominant second 45 for Renee Slegers’ side was made by Caldentey in the 83rd minute, when she lobbed the ball over a helpless Melina Loeck.
This defeat for the Seagulls has left them still without a win against the Gunners out of 16 matchups in any competition.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Albion had reason to feel optimistic at halftime as the wastefulness in front of goal from Slegers’ team allowed Brighton to contain Arsenal to a goalless first half, despite the several chances created by the Gunners before the interval.
It was a totally different story though in the second half, which looked more like the prior matchup between the two teams when Arsenal claimed a 5-0 WSL win in November.