Everton can learn from their hard-fought loss to Arsenal.

Everton fell short in a spirited performance as Arsenal came away 2-1 winners to go joint top of the Women’s Super League.

Any Everton fan traveling to the city before Saturday’s Women’s Super League match knew what was in store, since Arsenal is one of the strongest teams in the country. Still, the Blues’ defiant and determined play had them play toe-to-toe for much of the game, and they will take a lot of lessons from the 2-1 setback.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough task,” Everton manager Brian Sorensen stated of the Gunners prior to the game. “They have an unbelievable squad and really good player experience.” The actual game was just that, with Everton finding it difficult to handle Arsenal’s superior offensive line.

The previous night, Meadow Park announced a pitch inspection, leaving fans who had traveled down from Merseyside with a nervous wait. Fans were already upset that the game wasn’t being streamed live, so a last-minute cancellation would have exacerbated their ire.

But once the field was declared playable, those Evertonians would have had a difficult time watching as Arsenal got off to a fast start. Within five minutes, Beth Mead struck the crossbar as the visitors were being pinned back by the Gunners’ high-pressing front four, which included Mead, Alessia Russo, Vivienne Miedema, and Caitlin Foord.

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk