Women’s Super League: How Arsenal’s Kim Little engineered North London Derby win | OneFootball

Women’s Super League: How Arsenal’s Kim Little engineered North London Derby win | OneFootball

Icon: GiveMeSport

GiveMeSport

·26 September 2022

Women’s Super League: How Arsenal’s Kim Little engineered North London Derby win

Article image:Women’s Super League: How Arsenal’s Kim Little engineered North London Derby win

Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur in front of 47,367 jubilant fans at the Emirates.

It was a record attendance for a Women’s Super League match, and the crowd certainly had reason to celebrate.


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Beth Mead opened the scoring, with two goals from Vivianne Miedema separated by a thunderous header from Rafaelle Souza.

But it was Kim Little who was named player of the match, and for good reason. The midfield maestro was at her best for Arsenal during the North London Derby, showing exactly why she is considered one of the best female footballers to ever grace the pitch.

GiveMeSport Women uses numbers from FotMob to show just how good Little was against Tottenham.

Kim Little’s dominant North London Derby performance

Arsenal had the ball for the majority of the North London Derby, ending the match with 68 percent possession.

Little was crucial in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield, breaking up the opponent’s play, again and again. Tottenham could just not keep hold of the ball.

Indeed, Little had a 100 percent tackle success rate, making three successful interceptions and six recoveries during the match.

Once she got hold of the ball, the 32-year-old’s passing was typically accurate. Little boasted a passing accuracy of 83 percent, and many of her passes were progressive, with five into the final third.

It was her defence splitting pass which led to Beth Mead’s early goal, showing just how important Little can be when creating chances.

Video: Watch Kim Little’s brilliant pass to Beth Mead

Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead masterclass

Little’s performance alone didn’t win Arsenal the match, however, with Mead and Miedema in fine goalscoring form.

Mead, with a FotMob rating of 8.6, scored the opening goal. She calmly curled the ball into the back of the net after picking up a loose ball in the penalty box.

The 27-year-old then set up a goal for Rafaelle Souza in the second half, swinging in a corner for the Brazilian to head into the back of the net.

Miedema had capitalised on a defensive error from Spurs to double Arsenal’s lead in the first-half, before later heading in a cross to secure a 4-0 victory for the Gunners.

The Dutch star finished the match with a FotMob rating of 8.8, the highest of all the players on the pitch.

Women’s Super League results

This weekend also saw the Merseyside Derby take place, with an impressive crowd of 27,574 attending the match at Anfield.

Liverpool fans were left disappointed after their side suffered a 3-0 defeat, however.

Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea secured 2-0 victories against West Ham, Leicester City and Manchester City respectively, while Brighton defeated Reading 2-1.

Little, Lauren James and Jess Park were among the players to impress this weekend.

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