Tennis players facing the heat at Shanghai and Wuhan tournaments
October 8, 2025
The fact it appears to be isolated errors which are proving costly gives Arsenal some hope that there is a clear path to reviving their campaign.
Captain Kim Little said after the match that the team “cannot always be perfect all of the time”.
“We’re in a lower space just now with the current form, but we’ll come back stronger. We go into our league fixture at the weekend for a big three points,” Little told Disney+.
Understandably, Slegers said her side are “not happy” with their form, but their experience which led to winning this competition last year gives them reason to remain positive.
They lacked a cutting edge in attack and only managed half as many shots as Lyon, but they also lost 2-1 to the French side in the first leg of the semi-final in this competition last year and bounced back to win the second game 4-1 in France.
There is no second leg this time, with this a group phase game, but Arsenal will look to rebound all the same at the first opportunity.
“The important thing is that we manage it really well and we give direction moving forward and stand strong,” said Slegers. “The positive thing is that we have strong foundation in a cultural perspective and a football perspective.
“We need to keep on believing in that philosophy and it gave us a lot last year. When it starts clicking, we know how good we are.”
Should they fail to beat Brighton in the league on Sunday (14:30 BST), they will have gone a month without a win.
“I think there’s lots to it,” Russo said of Arsenal’s slump. “I think, first and foremost, we need to look at ourselves and how we can push our standards. We’re sometimes letting teams get attacks on us by our own mistakes.
“We need to take accountability, we need to focus on what we can do to control that from everyone. It’s all across the pitch. There’s moments in that that were really positive so we’ll lean on that and get ready for Sunday.”
It was at the start of the game where Arsenal were at their best, getting an early goal and showing their attacking qualities, but they could not sustain it.
“In the first 20-25 minutes, they started the game [well], the goal that they scored… but it is fine margins,” added Smith. “And if you make a couple of errors against a top-quality side like Lyon, then they will punish you.
“In the final third, they just needed to be a bit better, more clinical. But certainly positives to take.”