A Game Of Two Halves, Says Howard

- LCFC Women beaten 6-2 by Arsenal on Sunday evening
- Sam Tierney and Janice Cayman scored first half goals at King Power Stadium
- Six different second half goalscorers completed the Gunners’ turnaround in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- We need to take it as a lesson and move on, says Sophie Howard

Last weekend saw the Foxes beaten on home soil at the hands of Arsenal as Willie Kirk’s side suffered their third loss of the Barclays Women’s Super League season, and defender Howard says the second-half performance wasn’t good enough.

“We’re very disappointed, almost embarrassed,” the No.5 said. “It was a game of two halves, but unfortunately a good 45 minutes doesn’t get you anything, and we certainly didn’t do ourselves justice.

“That makes it even harder to take, but we can’t change it and we must learn from it. We need to take a hard look at ourselves I think because that simply wasn’t good enough, but we need to move forward.

“We came out alright, but two quick goals made it difficult. They came from individual errors, but that happens because we’re human.

“After that, we never found the switch. Arsenal analysed us at half-time and changed a few things which teared us apart. We never reacted to what they were doing, and they executed their game plan really well.”

A positive first-half display, which saw goals from Sam Tierney and Janice Cayman earn City a well-deserved lead, was overturned by a quality Arsenal side, who counteracted Leicester’s high press to score six goals after the break.

Howard nevertheless commended her side for sticking to their identity, understanding that mistakes were made in the process, and says these lessons must be learned quickly to ensure winning ways resume on Filbert Way this Sunday for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur. That clash with Spurs will be broadcast for free on Foxes Hub this Sunday.

“The only good thing is that we were still trying to be us,” the defender continued. “But it wasn’t good enough, and to be fair to Arsenal, they were really good in the second half, but it was a scoreline which we can’t accept.

“We need to take this as a lesson, be honest with ourselves and one another to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We need to come back here on Sunday and, first of all, put in a good performance, but also, we have to win.”