Everton 1-3 Arsenal: McCabe and Smith stunners help seal victory
Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners over Everton at Goodison Park, where Katie McCabe and Olivia Smith scored screamers.
Katie McCabe and Olivia Smith scored stunning goals as Arsenal overcame Everton 3-1 in Saturday's Women's Super League match.
Three of the four goals at Goodison Park were netted between the 11th and 15th minutes, before Smith struck in superb fashion late on to settle the contest.
McCabe got things started with a sublime left-footed strike, but Everton – who shocked reigning champions Chelsea last time out – responded via a fine strike from Honoka Hayashi.
Yet, two minutes later, Arsenal went ahead again as Alessia Russo, making her 100th WSL appearance, deflected in Kim Little's wayward strike, despite the best efforts of Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.
Arsenal had over 70% possession, and the Gunners' large contingent of travelling fans were sure of going home happy when Smith sent a fantastic, dipping volley beyond Brosnan in the 87th minute.
Russo was denied by the crossbar as Arsenal aimed to make it a rout, but they settled for three as they moved into second place ahead of Sunday's slate of matches.
Data Debrief: Screamers galore
It was a day for beautiful goals at Goodison. McCabe's strike was assigned an expected goals (xG) value of just 0.04, while Smith's registered just 0.02 xG.
Hayashi's equaliser, meanwhile, had just a 6% chance of finding the net as she hit it.
But Arsenal were worthy winners. The Gunners had 22 shots, hitting the target 10 times, with Everton managing to have just two attempts on target from three shots in total.
While the Gunners are on a four-game winning streak, Everton have now lost each of their last five WSL home games, which is their worst such run in the competition.
