Steph Catley has lauded her ‘amazing’ team mate Kyra Cooney-Cross after Arsenal’s number 32 was named Player of the Match against HB Køge.
Arsenal beat the Danish Champions 1-0 on the night thanks to a late, late Mariona Caldentey goal from the penalty spot. After the victory, Steph Catley spoke to the media and The Halfway Line was present to hear from her.
Steph Catley lauds ‘great’ Kyra Cooney-Cross performance
Catley praised her international team mate’s performance and it isn’t difficult to see why. No player won more duels, played more accurate long balls nor played more key passes than Cooney-Cross on the night. The Halfway Line asked Catley to speak on Cooney-Cross’s performance,
“Yeah, Kyra was amazing” Catley declared. “I think she had to play a little bit of a different role for us especially in the second half, we spoke at half time about you know [how] they keep two strikers up front always, so it was important for her to sit in front and mop up and then direct play once she got on the ball and she did exactly that.
“When she commits to a role like that, I think that’s when you see the best of her because she just kind of relaxes, she knows exactly what to do, and then you see the best of Kyra where she’s dribbling [and] she’s spraying balls.
“I thought defensively tonight she was so important for us. So yeah, I mean, I’m always proud of Kyra, but it was a great performance from her tonight.”
HB Køge ‘defended really well’ says Steph Catley
Most in attendance at Meadow Park last night were expecting an easy victory for Arsenal against HB Køge however that proved far from the reality. Catley was asked whether she was relieved to have come away with the three points,
“Yeah, I mean [it’s the] Champions League, you know, every game we go into it, it’s going to be tough” Catley admitted. “We know that. I think you know, credit to them, I thought they defended really well, they had a really clear game plan. They executed it.
“They have good players, and we did everything we could to break them down and to try and score goals, and it came very, very late, but it did come, and we were able to get three points, so it’s important.”
Catley says Arsenal are ‘working hard’ to end goals drought
At the moment, Arsenal are struggling for goals, even with a star studded front-line with names like Alessia Russo, Stina Blackstenius and Selina Cerci to name just a few. Catley was asked what she thought the reason for the slump in front of goal was,
“I mean, it’s hard to put your finger on it” Catley said. “I think you know, lots of new relationships, lots of new players and turnover, and sometimes it takes a little while for that to sort of click, and for everyone to sort of sink into their best form.
“But we’re doing absolutely everything, training, working hard, talking about things. How can we make it easier for each other in the final third and get the best out of each other?
“It’s not coming freely, and we’re not scoring freely at the moment. And sometimes that’s football, but we’re we’re doing all the right things, and we’re working hard every day. So hopefully, we turn that around massively.”
