Alessia Russo made her hotly anticipated Arsenal debut as the Women’s Super League club progressed through the first step of Champions League qualifying with a 3-0 victory over Swedish side Linkoping.
It was the England striker’s first match since the World Cup final defeat to Spain and her first in Arsenal colours following her high profile move from Manchester United.
Telegraph Sport breaks down Russo’s debut.
No World Cup hangover
The 24-year-old played just over an hour, from the start, of Arsenal’s victory. She looked sharp and relatively fresh despite the rigours of the summer’s run to final of the World Cup.
Russo seemed to fit into Arsenal’s system straight away, linking up well with Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum and Kim Little in particular, and the latter had the chance to open the scoring in the first half but saw a penalty saved.
Little later provided a skilful assist for Foord to break the deadlock in the 53rd minute, before Swedish substitutes Lina Hurtig and Stina Blackstenius both came on to score against their former club in the closing stages.
Not clinical in front of goal
Russo will have been hugely disappointed not to have scored with her final touch of the match, nodding wide at the far post seconds before being replaced by Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius.
It had looked certain that Russo would score unmarked and that miss added to the frustration of having earlier been denied by the feet of Linkoping goalkeeper Cajsa Andersson after she had burst through the middle with pace.
In the first half, Russo saw a strong effort deflected wide from the edge of the box, and from another half-chance, her downward header from a corner bounced straight into the arms of Andersson.
But it was those two golden chances in the second half where Russo had the best opportunities to make an immediate mark in an Arsenal shirt.
Impressive, strong hold-up play
Nonetheless, Jonas Eidevall will be encouraged by the wider impact of Russo’s hold-up play. She showed her strength on the ball to help build attacks when she dropped deeper, and she created space for others by drawing Linkoping defenders towards her.
Little, especially, was able to make several runs into the box from midfield either through meeting a lay-off from Russo or by bursting into space created by the England striker.
Movement
There were positives and negatives off the ball from Russo, whose intelligence in the press is said to have been one of the reasons behind Arsenal’s desire to sign her this summer. Her aerial strength was also evident, and she gave Linkoping plenty to worry about at set-pieces, at times dragging defenders away to open up space for others.
When Arsenal had the ball, she frequently created space for herself at the back post, getting away from her markers, but at times it seemed as though the better, instinctive run for a poacher would have been to dart in front of her defender at the near post and attack the six-yard box.
This was exemplified by her replacement from the bench, Blackstenius, whose first-touch finish from a low Foord cross in the 90th minute came from a run to the near post, but of course that pair have had far more time to build up an understanding.
Competition from the bench
Blackstenius will, nonetheless, provide strong competition for Russo for the starting striker slot, having led the line for Arsenal last season as they reached the semi-finals in Europe.
Eidevall’s squad is now blessed with much greater depth, not just thanks to Russo and Lacasse’s arrivals but with Hurtig settling into the team too.
Meanwhile, at some stage this season, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema are hoping to return from the anterior cruciate knee ligament injuries. Mead travelled with the squad to Sweden for Wednesday fixture and she is getting closer to making a competitive return.
Eidevall’s team will now face Paris FC or Ukrainian club Kryvbas in the next, one-legged phase of the qualification process on Saturday. If they win that game, the north Londoners will need to progress through a two-legged, second-round tie in October if they are to reach the group stages.
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