Arsenal inch closer to Champions League qualification. | OneFootball

Arsenal put their title heartbreak behind them with a dominant 5-0 victory over Bristol City, keeping their Champions League qualification hopes alive.

Mead and Russo both scored braces, while an own goal further sealed the win. With Chelsea’s recent struggles, Arsenal could even snag second place in the league.

The Gunners easily defeated bottom of the table Bristol City 5-0 with braces from Mead and Russo alongside an own goal. They now need four points from four games to qualify for the Champions League qualifying round 1.

Although mathematically still possible, the title is unreachable as City are six points ahead with only four games remaining. Second place is possible though. Chelsea have a game in hand, but are only three points ahead. They are on a bad run with one draw and two cup defeats in their last three games. Their quadruple dream is gone. They are up against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final and are looking tired as they have a busy schedule.

For the Bristol game, Jonas Eidevall, who was suspended and in the stand, made four changes from the team that started the Continental Cup final with Zinsberger, McCabe, Maanum and Lacasse making way for D’Angelo, Russo, Foord and Catley. The system was a classical 4-4-2 with the much anticipated Russo, Blackstenius front two. The bench was a little light on the day due to injuries with Wälti, Maanum, Cooney-Cross, Codina, Miedema and Hurtig unavailable and Ilestedt pregnancy of course.

The team did well against a low block in 5-4-1 system. There was a lot of off the ball movement, position interchanging and willingness to move around the pitch. Shots were taken multiple from the outside of the penalty area. Crosses looked to be aimed better as well. A much improved attacking performance in comparison to other games against sides that were parking the bus.

One of the most important events in the game was the return of ACL from right-back Laura Wienroither. After a long rehab, it was really nice to see her back on the pitch and she got a great reception from the fans. Her return gives Jonas Eidevall extra options at full-back as we can now use Emily Fox at left-back if needed as Laura is a good right back. This will help the team a lot next season, especially with Champions League games and rotation needed.

We also saw an Arsenal debut for our young centre-back Katie Reid. She went on loan to Watford in the Championship and she has grown a lot over there. Her decision making is a lot better and speed of play has improved too. There is no doubt that she needs to grow to be able to compete for a place in the team with Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Laia Codina, or Amanda Ilestedt when she is back from maternity leave. Hopefully, she can get a loan to a good championship side or a WSL side next season, because being the fourth or fifth choice at centre-back will not help her development at a key moment.

We also had Teyah Goldie on the bench for the first time this season as she returns from her two consecutive ACL and hopefully she will also get a chance to have a few minutes under her belt before the end of the season

Our next League game will be the final game at the Emirates Stadium for the 2023/24 season, a 2pm Sunday kick-off against Leicester City. Chelsea will be at home to Aston Villa on Wednesday due to their Champions League involvement, while Manchester City will be at home to West Ham. Manchester United will be at home to Tottenham.