Chilly temps and rain in North London didn’t put a damper on the Arsenal Men and Women, as both romped to decisive victories. Neither opponent was especially daunting, but the class that each side showed in seeing off credible opposition is exactly what should be expected of teams who compete for championships. Friday Night Lights The Arsenal women kicked off the weekend Friday night at the home of the West Ham women’s side, Chigwell Construction Stadium. The trip across London meant that attendance dropped from the 38,000+ that saw the season opener at the Emirates to just north of 3,000 ( Pro Tip: If you’re considering going to see the Arsenal Women this season, you might want to catch a road match.) Once the match got underway, the script seemed almost identical to what we saw from the Gunners in last weekend’s season opener against London City, with a rough start as Gunners goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar misplayed a high cross that she would handle easily 99 times out of 100. As in their opener, however, there was no panic about being down a goal. The Gunners held the bulk of the possession and the breakthrough came in the 21st minute from Frida Maanum from a Beth Mead assist. Both Mead with her pass and Maanum with her shot nutmegged their defenders to produce the first goal. Arsenal kept the pressure up through the rest of the first half, but couldn’t get the go-ahead goal before the break. As with London City, the introduction of Stina Blackstenius changed the match. The Sweden international came on at halftime, and the goals started flowing.Although Blackstenius scored first in the second stanza, the plaudits for the goal should go to Alessia Russo, whose one touch backheel made Blackstenius’ job routine for a striker of her quality. From 2-1, the rout was on. A goal from Caitlin Foord in the 62nd, and a stoppage time brace from Russo delivered the final 5-1 scoreline. To see more, check out an extended highlights package (requires free sign-up) from the match. The early-match jitters against modest opponents that Arsenal have shown in both matches so far are the only quibble that anyone might have after two dominant matches. They will have to get things sorted out this week, though, when they face current table toppers Manchester United on their home ground. New Arrivals Shine Where the women’s successful weekend was driven by returning stars, the men’s victory over visiting Nottingham Forest was notable for the contributions of new arrivals. With Bukayo Saka and William Saliba still injured, Mikel Arteta started five summer signings–Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, and Viktor Gyorkeres. Each was excellent. The most obvious star of the match was Zubimendi, who opened the scoring with a screaming goal from long distance. After an attempted Forest clearance from a corner, the ball fell to Zubimendi and he struck true. A slight touch from a defender on the way through provided just enough change of direction to ensure that goalkeeper Matt Sels didn’t have a chance to get a hand on it. While the Gunners were dominant in the first half, going into the break up only a goal certainly wasn’t the most comfortable feeling. Fortunately, in less than a minute Eberechi Eze combined with Viktor Gyokeres to double the lead.(The play started with early-season star Ricardo Calafiori who played a long ball for Eze who crossed it immediately into the path of Gyokeres for an easy finish.) Zubimendi once again closed the scoring in the 79th minute with an unlikely strike from the diminutive holding midfielder–a headed goal. The build-up came from a set piece on the right side of the attack. Declan Rice worked the ball across the pitch to substitute Leandro Trossard, who clipped the ball into the box where Zubimendi rose to head it home for the final 3-0 scoreline. For video highlights of the match, click here (requires free sign-up). While three of the five new arrivals who started - Zubimendi, Eze, and Gyokeres - figured prominently in the scoring, the other two - Mosquera and Madueke - showed even better. Madueke, the subject of supporter ire when he was purchased from Chelsea over the summer, was excellent for the 79 minutes he played, consistently driving at defenders and opening up potential scoring opportunities that Arsenal could have done better converting. Mosquera made his most obvious contribution when he prevented a Forest attacker from being in on goal after some less-than-impressive work clearing the ball from David Raya. Mosquera dispossessed the attacker without looking even mildly panicked, and ensured that Forest’s best opportunity came to nothing. Beyond that one play, the extent to which Mosquera, acquired more as “one for the future” rather than being targeted for a starting role, has stepped in for William Saliba and looked every bit the Frenchman’s equal. With a Tuesday Champions League opener against Athletic Club, Arsenal’s newboys will have to excel for the Gunners to get a positive result in Bilbao. The Results: WSL Week 2/PL Week 4 With both the men’s and women’s teams now playing league matches with Champions League to come soon for each, I’m going to condense the details to results, place in the table, what happened to their title rivals, and what fixtures are upcoming. Women’s Result: 5-1 win @ West Ham Men’s Result: 3-0 win vs. Nottingham Forest Women’s Place in the Table: 2nd (tied for first with 6 points, second behind Manchester United by one goal on goal difference tie breaker) Men’s Place in the Table: 2nd (3 points behind first place Liverpool) WSL Title Contender Round-up: Chelsea: The Blues won 3-1 over Aston Villa and welcomed back striker extraordinaire Sam Kerr, who scored on her return to the pitch after the better part of two years out. Manchester City: City came from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 and record their first win of the new season. Manchester United: The Red Devils, unlike their male counterparts, are in fine form, one-upping Arsenal’s result against London City from last weekend to maintain their slim lead at the top of the table on goal differential. PL Title Contender Round-up Liverpool: The Reds struggled mightily to break through against newly-promoted Burnley only, to see a Clarets player wrongly sent off late in the match. A minute before the final whistle a foolish hand ball in the box led to a Mo Salah penalty and an extremely lucky 1-0 win to maintain Liverpool’s perfect start to the season. Tottenham: Tomas Frank has wasted no time in transforming Spurs into a credible side. West Ham aren’t very good and were even worse after a 54th minute red card, but Arsenal’s North London rivals did what they have failed to do so often in recent seasons and took care of a weak opponent with a minimum of fuss. Chelsea: I debated whether to include the Blues in this space or not. They just don’t seem to be able to get the best of the talent on their squad let alone actually being more than the sum of their parts. They conceded well into stoppage time against West London rivals Brentford and had to settle for a disappointing draw. Up Next Women - 9/21 9:50 AM EDT: Arsenal travel to current leaders Manchester United for a top-of-the-table clash. Men (UCL) - 9/16 12:45 PM EDT: Arsenal travel to Bilbao in Spain to face Athletic Club and frequently-rumored transfer target Nico Williams in the Champions League opener for both sides. Men (PL) - 9/21 11:30 AM EDT: Hopefully, the women have their tie in hand and you can switch over to the men’s clash against Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday. City haven’t looked quite right yet this season but this is, without question, the match of the weekend in the Premier League.

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