The 2018–19 season was Arsenal Women's Football Club's 32nd season of competitive football. The club participated in the WSL, the FA Cup and the League Cup. This was the first full season of the club under Australian coach Joe Montemurro.
The club qualified for the Champions League by securing a top two spot in the league with three games to go. In the penultimate game of the season, Arsenal secured the top spot of the league and was English champions once more after a seven-year wait. The Gunners finished runners-up in the League Cup and lost in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Review Pre-season Before the first friendlies in pre-season, the squad saw some changes. Midfielders Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Lia Wälti, defender Tabea Kemme (coming from the German Bundesliga) and goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (from the French Division 1) joined the squad, while Arsenal legend Alex Scott retired to focus on her media career, Heather O'Reilly moved back to the States and Anna Moorhouse and Lauren James switched to different English clubs.
The pre-season friendlies consisted of the 5–0 won homegame against Italian Serie A champions Juventus on 5 August, in which Vivianne Miedema scored four goals – Kim Little scored the other one. Arsenal participated in the Toulouse International Ladies Cup in France, where it competed against Montpellier HSC (won 2–1 with goals from Miedema and Daniëlle van de Donk) and Paris Saint-Germain (2–2 draw, with a goal from Beth Mead and a last-minute penalty by Little). The tournament was won by Arsenal, ahead of the aforementioned teams and Bayern Munich (who Arsenal didn't play).
August After the friendlies, the only game in August was the League Cup tie against West Ham United. The game was won 3–1, with two goals from McCabe and one from Emma Mitchell. It also was the first appearance of Lia Wälti in a competitive match for Arsenal.
September September saw the club play four games, three for the league and one for the League Cup. Arsenal got off to a great start in the league, by firing five past Liverpool in their 5–0 match on 9 September (home). Miedema scored her first hattrick of the season and a goal a piece for Lisa Evans and Little. Liverpool was unable to score in the goal behind Pauline Peyraud-Magnin who made her first appearance in the Arsenal shirt. The subsequent League Cup tie against Championship club Lewes on the 16th displayed the big class difference, Arsenal scored nine goals, with hattricks by Miedema and Little, with Van de Donk, McCabe and Evans each adding another goal to the scoreline, Lewes was unable to get a goal in leaving the score at 0–9. The thumping didn't stop there, Yeovil Town saw seven goals ending in the back of their net on 19 September (away), with Jordan Nobbs scoring a brace and Mead, McCabe, Miedema, Dominique Bloodworth and Little all scoring a goal. The team who held them to a season-defining 0–0 draw in the previous season was unable to respond to this firepower, ending the game in 0–7.
Greatest opposition came from West Ham United on the 23rd (home), who were able to go ahead on two occasions via goals by Kate Longhurst in a game that saw some sloppy defending and goalkeeping. A hattrick from Van de Donk and a goal from Little saw them come back, before Claire Rafferty scored from a free-kick leaving it up to Arsenal to keep the one goal advantage in the last few minutes of the game. The Gunners succeeded in that, the game ended in a 4–3 win.
October After the match against West Ham, Arsenal faced Chelsea on 14 October, the champions of the previous season, in an away match. After the first 20 minutes, Arsenal took the lead when Little scored from the penalty spot following a challenge by Adelina Engman on Mitchell inside the penalty area. Before half-time, Miedema scored the second goal. After the break, Nobbs scored from a cross, Miedema added another goal after a rebound from Mead’s attempt, and Nobbs scored the fifth goal. The match ended 0–5 in favor of Arsenal. In the second half, a tackle by Drew Spence brought down Little, who was unable to continue and was later diagnosed with a broken leg that kept her out of play for up to 10 weeks. Spence received a yellow card for the challenge.
On the subsequent Sundays, Arsenal won both matches against Reading (6–0 at home, 21 October) and Bristol City (0–4 away, 28th). The Reading game saw another hattrick from Miedema, her third of the season (second in the league) and goals from Nobbs, Mead and Van de Donk. Bristol City saw four goals end up in their net, with Miedema scoring twice and Nobbs and Van de Donk claiming the other two goals. Bristol made it hard on Arsenal and the scoreline did not fully reflect the game, with two late goals (88' and 90') taking the score up to four, which did not seem fully deserved. Sophie Baggaley (Bristol goalkeeper) played a good game and held a lot of good shots. The two goals took Miedema up to 11 goals in just 6 games, making her the topscorer and well surpassing her four goals from the entire 2017–2018 season.
November Birmingham City visited the Gunners at home on 4 November for what was predicted as the next big test after the game against Chelsea. The game started evenly with both teams unable to score a goal in the first half. The second half saw Nobbs score the first goal of the evening, but Arsenal was caught sleeping in the aftermath: Birmingham instantly responded with their goal, just a minute later. Not much later, Evans got to ground in the penalty area after being held on to by a Birmingham defender. Van de Donk converted the subsequent spot-kick. In the dying moments of the match, Nobbs scored the third goal - ending the game in 3–1.
After the international break, Arsenal visited Everton, who are at the bottom of the league at this point. The first half frustrated the Gunners, as they had a lot of chances, but were unable to put them past the Everton goalkeeper. It was Van de Donk who was able to find the back of the net in the end of the first half. The second half saw a quick start, Nobbs scored the second before Miedema scored another two. A comfortable 0–4 win, but a big blow to the team when Nobbs went down with a few minutes to play and had to be stretchered off the pitch. Later it was confirmed that she had sustained an ACL injury, side-lining her for the rest of the season.
With both Little and Nobbs out of the squad, the team welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion on 25 November. The Gunners saw themselves go behind in the ninth minute when a defensive mix-up let through Iniabasi Umotong, slotting in her shot past Van Veenendaal. It took some time for the team to get up to steam, as they were saved a second goal against not much later. They then picked up the pace and saw the three Dutch players, Miedema, Bloodworth and Van de Donk all fire a goal past the Brighton goalkeeper in the first half. The second half saw a lone goal from Mead to finish the game on 4–1, extending their winning streak to 9 league games.
December 2 December saw the team travelling to Manchester to play second-placed Manchester City. The injuries clearly had hit hard on the team, with just nine fit senior outfield players, giving Paige Bailey-Gayle her first start for the team. It proved a frustrating afternoon for the Gunners, who saw Georgia Stanway fire two goals past Peyraud-Magnin, leaving Arsenal no chances. The 2–0 loss ended their winning run of 9 league games, but left them still on top of the league with three points clear.
After the league defeat against City, Arsenal played the two remaining games in the groupstage of the League Cup. The first one on 6 December saw them when 5–0 at home against Charlton Athletic, with both Miedema and McCabe scoring a brace, complemented by a Charlton own goal. A week later on the 12th, the Gunners traveled to Kent to play against the Millwall Lionesses. Millwall went ahead in the first half, in a match that saw three academy players in the starting eleven. In the second half, three Arsenal goals came in quick succession: first Miedema scored and a minute later Ruby Grant scored her first goal for the senior team. Williamson scored her first goal of the season some minutes later to get a comfortable 1–3 win.
The League Cup results secured the top spot in the group and advancement to the play-offs stage. Because of the 11-team league, Arsenal did not play in the league whilst the other teams did. City went level on points but Arsenal had a game in hand and a better goal difference.
Winter Transfer Window During the winter transfer window, the club made signings to strengthen the squad: Danish defender Janni Arnth (from Linköpings FC) and midfielder Katrine Veje (from Montpellier HSC).
January The first game of 2019 was on 6 January away at West Ham United. It saw a slow start from Arsenal, who went behind after a goal from Jane Ross. Williamson and Arnth both scored a header from a corner by Mead, making it the first league goal for Williamson this season and Arnth scoring on her debut in an Arsenal shirt. Ross leveled just before half time, but two goals from Van de Donk made sure the Gunners won the match 2–4. The match also saw the return of captain Little, after having suffered a broken leg in the match against Chelsea. Later that afternoon, title rivals Manchester City drew against Bristol City, giving Arsenal a two-point lead and a game in hand at the top of the league table.
In the midweek on the 10th, Arsenal welcomed Birmingham City for the quarter-final of the League Cup. There were obvious signs of fatigue following the match against West Ham in the weekend. The first half saw no goals, but a good penalty stop from Van Veenendaal to deny Birmingham the lead. In the second half, a defensive mix-up led to the 0–1 lead for the visitors. The game however saw a nail-biting ending, when Van de Donk scored from a Miedema cross with six minutes left on the clock. In stoppage time, Miedema turned from provider to scorer when she sent home the pass from McCabe to make sure the game was won 2–1 in the 90 minutes and sending the Gunners into the semi-final. The game saw the first appearance of winter signing Katrine Veje.
The last game before the January international break, on the 13th saw London rivals Chelsea come to Borehamwood. It would prove to be a hard match for the Gunners, with Erin Cuthbert scoring on both sides of half time to go 0–2 ahead. Miedema scored in the 80th minute to make 1–2. It would prove to make an exciting last ten minutes of the match, but in the end not enough to get a point out of the match. This meant that Manchester City would go top of the league and leave Arsenal in second place, one point behind City but with a game in hand.
After the international break, Arsenal visited Reading on the 27th in Adams Park with good memories from last season's Continental Cup final win there. The team came out of the gates blazing with Miedema scoring her 16th league goal of the season, surpassing the record set for most league goals in a season by Ellen White in the previous season. A controversially given penalty used by Little and a last minute goal by McCabe, assisted with the first touches of just subbed on academy player Melisa Filis ended the game in a 0–3 win. A win of fourth placed Birmingham City over third placed Chelsea might mean that the title could be decided between Arsenal and Manchester City, who are now 5 and 6 points clear of Birmingham City and Chelsea. The Gunners still have their game in hand over Manchester City, whilst just being one point down on them.
February On the 3rd, Arsenal visited Crawley Wasps, a fourth tier team for the fourth round proper of the FA Cup. The game was played with an heavily rotated team, with six academy players in the game. It was Little who scored first, after which the academy player and just 16-year-old Grant scored a hat-trick to make the final score 0–4.