We finished our pre-season campaign on a high with a solid 3-0 win over Southampton Women at St Mary's.
A brilliant strike from Kyra Cooney-Cross and a brace from centre-back Laia Codina secured the victory ahead of Wednesday's vital Champions League qualifier against Rangers.
Jonas Eidevall named a strong side to kick off against the Saints, with Emily Fox returning to the starting XI and Mariona Caldentey making her first start after a promising showing in Washington D.C.
Mariona showed her spark in the opening 45 minutes with incisive passes, nutmegs and a directness that kept the Southampton backline on their toes.
At the other end, 17-year-old Katie Reid continued her impressive pre-season with the first team, remaining composed and rock-solid in a centre-back partnership with Leah Williamson.
Mariona's hard work down the wing soon paid off as the ball fell to Kyra Cooney-Cross, who struck beautifully into the top corner for her debut Arsenal goal.
In true pre-season fashion, Jonas Eidevall made nine changes at half time, as three more of our academy players gained valuable senior minutes.
This also meant Stina Blackstenius returned to the pitch and even on managed minutes, our striker looked dangerous. Some slick passing down the left wing gave our Swede an opportunity to break into the box and strike, only for it to ripple the side netting.
As she had done in D.C., summer signing Rosa Kafaji bamboozled the defence with her quick feet and perseverance. Her closest effort on goal came not long into the second half through a powerful shot that just grazed the crossbar.
With our Gunners firmly in the driving seat, we doubled our lead through Laia Codina after the hour mark. Kafaji's skill earned us a free kick on the very edge of the box and a beautiful delivery from Vivienne Lia was just as well met by Codina, who headed home.
Less than five minutes later, our number 5 had a brace - cleaning up a goalmouth scramble with a neat tap-in.
Freya Godfrey and Naomi Williams were then introduced as our young Gunners continued to shine in the second 45. The pace of Lia and Godfrey led to a number of close calls in the area and a fantastic effort from Michelle Agyemang was pushed away for a corner.
When Southampton did threaten on the counter with speed and quick balls over the top, Reid calmly dealt with the danger time and time again.
With the minutes ticking on, there was just one final change to make as U17s star Tara Junaid made her first appearance for the senior side in front of our incredible travelling support.
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By Arsenal
September 3, 2024