Arsenal were denied the opportunity to eat into Manchester City's lead at the top of the Women's Super League on Sunday, as their trip to Brighton was postponed. A waterlogged surface at Broadfield Stadium rendered the fixture unplayable, frustrating the Gunners' attempts to respond to Man City's 6-0 rout of Leicester City on Friday. Arsenal are 13 points behind City but now have two games in hand on the runaway leaders, who they defeated 1-0 last weekend to spark slim hopes of a fightback in the title race.
Arsenal started on the front foot, with Frida Maanum registering a shot on target after just 30 seconds, before Lotte Wubben-Moy and Mariona Caldentey also tested Faye Kirby with tame attempts inside the opening 10 minutes. Wubben-Moy then struck the woodwork with her header from Caldentey's cross, but Smith made the breakthrough for the Gunners, as she dribbled past three players before firing the ball into the bottom-left corner from distance.
Just how impactful can a stunning Champions League win be on the psychology of a team that has struggled to challenge domestically in recent years? We are about to find out. Arsenal's battling run to Lisbon and subsequent victory over Barcelona ended a north London trophy drought, yet it has still been six years since the most decorated women's team in England won a Women's Super League title.