McCabe and Russo strike in stoppage time as Arsenal beat Aston Villa in WSL

In the 88th minute Arsenal were staring at a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa and their Women’s Super League title aspirations lay in tatters. Then came a heady roar from the crowd as Beth Mead stepped over the touchline ready to make her return from injury. Then the announcement of 12 minutes of added time ushered in another hopeful roar. Two minutes later a rocket from Katie McCabe sent the Emirates Stadium wild – and, finally, a Mead assist and an Alessia Russo strike breathed belief back into the Gunners’ campaign.

No team have lost more than two games in a season and won the league in the history of the WSL and, with just one point from their opening two games, Arsenal had to take three against Villa.

It would be wrong to attribute the comeback solely to Mead’s introduction, but it was certainly the catalyst and her stunning assist, clipping the ball back to Russo rather than shooting, showed an intelligence in the final third that Arsenal have needed.

“She deserves that reception,” Jonas Eidevall said of the welcome Mead received from the home crowd. “She’s worked so hard. She’s had a really difficult year, both being injured, her mum passed away, we know that it’s been incredibly tough for her.

“It’s so nice to see her being back on the pitch, seeing her being able to perform straight away. You never know [if that will happen]. You have the hope, otherwise I would never have put her on, but you don’t know it until you’ve seen [it] … but she does, obviously. Because she’s Beth Mead, and we’re happy about that.”

Eidevall made five changes to the side that began the 2-2 draw against Manchester United nine days ago, while Carla Ward made three to the Villa team that lost against Liverpool last Sunday, the former Gunner