By Nick Ware

12th Oct, 2021 | 8:40am

Everton Women Expert hails 'brilliant' Sandy MacIver despite 3-0 defeat to Arsenal

We’re delighted to welcome Peter MacFarlane, member of the Everton Women Official Supporters Club, as our exclusive Everton Women expert.

Everton Women met a formidable Arsenal side on Sunday as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Meadow Park.

After consecutive victories over Birmingham and Reading, the Blues went into the WSL clash with a degree of confidence, but with the knowledge that they were facing a hugely difficult task to pick up points.

So it proved as The Gunners blew them away with goals from Katie McCabe, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Frida Maanum.

Goodison News spoke to Peter MacFarlane, member of the Everton Women Official Supporters Club, for his verdict on the game as Willie Kirk’s side suffered their first defeat since September 12.

“We knew it would be a mammoth task against an Arsenal side who have started their WSL season so convincingly,” he said. “They really are a top, top side, but for large parts of the game, the second half in particular, we can be proud of our performance.

“Two of Arsenal’s goals came from fantastic strikes from distance. I’m sure Sandy MacIver will feel she could’ve done better with the first goal, even though it was a great strike, but she showed just how good she is throughout the course of the match with some brilliant saves to keep us in the game. The third goal in particular from Maanum was absolutely sublime and unstoppable. There’s not really much you can do to counter moments like that, you just have to take your hat off and appreciate a moment of magic.

“I think we can take a lot of positives from the game but we still have so much work to do if we are going to take the next step and really challenge those top teams. The second goal is the most disappointing as it comes from a corner, and with the quality we possess, especially in the air, we need to be more dominant and can’t afford to concede those types of goals against the top sides.

“Overall though, I think we can be encouraged by the way we played in the second half. We seemed to grow in confidence as the game progressed and played with more freedom. This is a team that is still learning, especially taking into consideration the number of new signings in the summer, so it’s going to take time for us to really hit top form and gel.

“But I’ve seen enough, certainly over the last three games, to feel confident that we can kick on and start to show our quality on a regular basis.”

In other Everton Women news, our expert delivers his verdict on a crushing injury blow to this Blues star.