Jonas Eidevall had promised that his side would do their “very, very best” to earn a place in the League Cup final and against Aston Villa they delivered, Stina Blackstenius’s first-half hat-trick inspiring the clinical Gunners.
Retaining this competition represents arguably their best chance of a trophy this season as they are three points behind the WSL joint-leaders Chelsea and Manchester City, having been knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup.
Continuing that rivalry, Arsenal will meet one of those teams in the final at Molineux on Easter Sunday. City host the Blues in their semi-final on Thursday night.
Returning to Boreham Wood after back-to-back sell-out crowds for league games at the Emirates Stadium there were four changes to the Arsenal team that earned a tight 1-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday. Leah Williamson was back in the starting XI, wearing the armband in place of Kim Little, who dropped to the bench with Laia Codina, Victoria Pelova and Caitlin Foord while Frida Maanum, Blackstenius and Kyra Cooney-Cross stepped into the fold.
Carla Ward made three changes to the side that suffered a bruising 4-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. One was likely enforced, with first-choice goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar not in the squad and Anna Leat stepping up in her absence. Meanwhile, Rachel Daly returned from suspension in place of Simone Magill and Danielle Turner replaced Noelle Maritz, who was cup-tied after appearing for Arsenal earlier in the competition.
Arsenal made a blistering start against the beleaguered Villans, who they beat 3-0 at the quarter‑final stage last year. A warning shot was fired within two minutes, when Blackstenius found Alessia Russo at the back post, but her strike partner couldn’t get enough on it and Villa scrambled it clear.
Seven minutes later though, the hosts opened the scoring, with Beth Mead and Maanum combining before the latter played in Blackstenius, who fired into the roof of the net.
The Swedish forward got her second a minute later, Mead sending the ball to the back post for Russo who headed across goal and Blackstenius smashed in.
Arsenal’s third followed not long after, with Mead providing for Maanum, who scored with a powerful shot from the edge of the box.
Blackstenius secured her hat-trick before the break after Lotte Wubben-Moy headed Mead’s free-kick across goal.
The home side were rampant, the Gunners far more efficient in attack than they had been in the possession-heavy defeat of Spurs.
Things got worse for the visiting team a minute before the break, with Kirsty Hanson forced off with an injury and Ebony Salmon replacing her. There was another change at half-time as Ward attempted to shore things up, Alisha Lehmann coming off for Magill.
If there were positives for Villa in the second half, it was that they kept a clean sheet after the break. Maanum looked to have grabbed her second of the match but was adjudged to have been offside in the Gunners’ most threatening moment.
In some senses some pride was restored by Villa’s second-half defensive performance, but with the damage done before the break Arsenal were able to step off the gas a little too.
Villa’s dream of a first major cup final is dead and they will have to pick themselves up and push to finish the league season strongly, having already lost two games more than they did across the entirety of last season. Arsenal, meanwhile, waltz into a 10th Continental Cup final, with their – and Eidevall’s – eyes firmly on the prize.
