The Cup Run Is Over

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Monday 1 May 2023 at The Emirates Stadium
Result	Arsenal 2 VfL Wolfsburg 3 (4-5 on aggregate)
Competition	Women’s Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
Hopstats	Second visit here in a week, fourth altogether.
Context
The tie stands at 2-2 on aggregate, with Arsenal coming back from 2-0 down to get the draw. The match is a sellout and will be the highest crowd for a women’s club game in England. (Edit: It was 60,063.) The main issue facing the home side is the loss through injury of Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Kim Little, Caitlin Foord and Vivianne Miedema, while Wolfsburg have their star striker Alexandra Popp back for the second leg. Arsenal got here with an excellent quarter-final victory over Bayern Munich and they had bossed their group stage including demolitions of holders Lyon and FC Zurich.
In One Sentence
The result was decided just before the end of extra-time when a defensive error allowed Pauline Bremer to grab a dramatic winning goal for the German side.
So What?
Wolfsburg will play Barcelona in the Final. The latter have recently narrowly beaten Chelsea. The English sides will resume their pursuit of Manchester United for the league title.
Pre-match Entertainment
I started the day at Dial Square in Woolwich, the place where the Woolwich Arsenal football club was formed. I walked the Thames Path through Charlton, past the Faraday Works and the Thames Barrier, to Greenwich and the Cutty Sark, before taking the foot tunnel under the river to Docklands and then Canary Wharf. At that point a mixture of time pressure and developing foot blisters meant that I took public transport the rest of the way.   No Gunners to be found in Dial Square this morning Some photos from the rest of the walk are below.
Match Report
As this game has received substantial coverage already, I’ll be brief and impressionistic. This was a great occasion and I feel privileged to have been there. I had a seat high in the stands with no real view of the big screens, and when VAR was triggered very early on (the first one I have experienced live) I can understand why so many people are frustrated with it. The first one checked and rejected a penalty claim for handball against Arsenal defender Jennifer Beattie. The second one confirmed the opening goal, scored for Arsenal by Stina Blackstenius after a defensive mix-up. The equaliser before half-time was not a surprise, Jill Roord (once of Arsenal) was the scorer with the assist from Alexandra Popp. The second half started with Arsenal on the front foot and Blackstenius had the ball in the net only for VAR to find in favour of the Germans this time. Popp’s glancing header from a set piece gave them the lead, but all credit to Arsenal who, having seen their sub Laura Wienroither stretchered off to join the injury list, levelled through Beattie’s header with 15 minutes to go. Both sides had their chances to win it in extra time. Keepers Manuela Zinsberger and Merle Frohms didn’t do much wrong. Frida Maanum deserves a mention in the home midfield. A cross by Katie McCabe clipped the bar, but Wolfsburg should have scored just before that. As we headed towards penalties, an error by the otherwise excellent Lotte Wubben-Moy let in Wolfsburg and close-range tap in for Pauline Bremer. Arsenal removed Beattie and sent Michelle Agyemang up front for a few frantic final minutes but Wolfsburg held on for an impressive victory. Insert your own sentence about fine margins here.
Match & Ground Pix
Not too many ground pix, but see previous post from the FA Youth Cup final for more.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 270 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Grey loses to Black. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 44% (55 from Z125) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! A trip to see Manchester United v Tottenham in the Women’s Super League is in the diary for next weekend, followed by a couple of Wembley trips for the Women’s FA Cup Final and Non-League Finals Day.
Photos: Woolwich Arsenal to Arsenal via Greenwich
1) The Woolwich Arsenal 2) Heading towards the Thames 3) The Woolwich Ferry 4) The derelict Faraday Works, Charlton 5) The Thames Barrier 6) London Skyline 7) Greenwich 8) Greenwich Foot Tunnel 9) The Space, Westferry (former church, now a theatre)

Restoration Drama

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 17 November 2019 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Result	Tottenham Hotspur Women 2 Arsenal Women 2
Competition	FA Women’s Super League
Hopstats	Ground 706 on the lifetime list. Restores for now my complete current “92” for the top four divisions in England (or 91 when you take account of Coventry City as a groundsharer). Likewise it means that I have been everywhere currently in use down to Step 2 National League N & S for the moment. Brentford’s and York City's new grounds will be opened sooner rather than later too so there will always be the need for restoration.
Context
Spurs Women usually play at The Hive, Barnet, but an international weekend and the prospect of a big crowd meant that this first WSL meeting between these local rivals was switched to the new place. The season is five games old. Reigning champions Arsenal have a slightly better win-loss record, 4-1 as opposed to Spurs’ 3-2. The hosts have priced the fixture very attractively (£7 for my ticket) and have made a pitch for parents-and-children attendance. I dare say there will be a few more groundhoppers dotted around too.
In one sentence
A record crowd (38000+) for a women’s club game in England saw Arsenal take the points with a composed, stylish and efficient performance.
So what?
Still early in the season but it seems that Arsenal will be title challengers and Spurs will be at least safely mid-table.
Match Report
I’m late with this and the game will have been covered in detail already for anyone interested, so I will be brief and impressionistic. It was a predictably cagey start to the game. Arsenal looked a touch more composed on the ball, and their patterns of movement looked promising. Spurs were more robust. There were few clear chances initially but by half-time Arsenal probably should have been in front. Spurs will also point to chances that could have gone in and changed the narrative, especially a shot by Kit Graham that went straight at keeper Manuela Zinsberger. In the end any Arsenal nerves were calmed by a great finish from Kim Little. She controlled a defensive header that fell nicely for her to control, manoeuvre and then fire into the corner of the net. Arsenal managed the game very well from then on. A short backpass gifted them a second, scored by Vivianne Miedema, and it looked for a moment as if Spurs could collapse. Anything more than 0-2 would have been harsh on the home side, who played a full part in an enjoyable, entertaining game of football. Rachel Furness caught the eye with an all-action and energetic display. As a neutral and blogger, I just have to comment on the cultural differences between the equivalent fixtures in the men’s and women’s game. I do not side with those who think the latter lacks something in the way of “passion”, that word that is so often used as an excuse or a proxy for poor personal standards or outright lack of self-control. The game played at this level deserves to succeed and all the signs are that it will. The men’s game changed forever once the suits realised there was so much money to be made from media and advertising. Like many groundhoppers, I lost a lot of interest from that point onwards and I hope the development of the women’s game does not make the same mistake and create too big a gulf between the rich and the poor clubs. There’s no evidence at all that Sky, BT and their sponsors really care too much about their wider unintended impact. There, I said it. I can only imagine that with a capacity crowd, the local infrastructure comes under severe strain. I watched a couple of teenagers deal with this by clinging limpet-like to the back of a bus as it headed south down the High Road. Not recommended. The teacher in me wanted to intervene, but I couldn’t get close enough and maybe it’s just as well.
Pix
It is a phenomenally impressive stadium. Up to now I’d have chosen The Emirates as best club stadium in England, but this one now takes the honour in my book. The asymmetry has been used cleverly to create a clear home end. The range of food outlets is impressive and diverse. Lighting, signage, sight lines and space are all excellent.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats
New this season – a pre-match prediction based only on keeper top colours as a preliminary test of the data.  Proper statistical significance test to follow in due course. Today was a contest between two very different shades of green. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 52% (32 from 62) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by half-and-half tops or sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. Full table on this page: KeeperTopColourStats
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! I’ve been everywhere down to Step 2 now, and I have two grounds (Atherton Collieries & Radcliffe) left at Step 3 and seventeen at Step 4. I've not been very active as yet this season but these remain my priorities.