All eyes were on Olivia Smith, the record-breaking £1 million signing from Liverpool, and the 19-year-old Canadian didn’t just live up to the hype, she blew the roof off with a sensational strike on her debut. Riding on the sensational solo goal, the Gunners demolished London City Lionesses 4-1 at the Emirates in front of 38,142 roaring supporters.
Despite Arsenal’s pedigree as champions of Europe, it was the WSL newcomers who stunned the crowd first. In the 17th minute, Katie Reid clipped Kosovare Asllani inside the box. The experienced Swede dusted herself off and coolly slotted her penalty low past Daphne van Domselaar to hand the Lionesses their first-ever top-flight goal.
Advertisement
Getty Images
THE BIGGER PICTURE
For a moment, it looked like Arsenal’s season opener might turn sour. Enter Smith. Picking up possession outside the box, the teenager skipped past Maria Perez before unleashing a scintillating curling effort that bent away from the goalkeeper and nestled perfectly into the bottom corner. And the Emirates erupted.
WATCH THE CLIP
WHAT SMITH SAID
Speaking post-match to , Smith could hardly contain her delight: “That’s the kind of goal I want to score. Whenever I see a gap, I’m going for it. To do it here, on my debut, was special.”