Jacqueline Burns ‘unbelievable’ as Reading FC Women fall to Arsenal defeat

Reading Women suffered a third league defeat from three as Arsenal Women took the three points from Sunday evening’s televised game at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. A record crowd of 3,660 were treated to an entertaining game with the Royals showing promise, albeit in defeat to one of the title challengers. Here are our player ratings: 

Jacqueline Burns – 8/10 – Player of the match. An unbelievable save from Blackstenius in the first minute and a penalty save from Little on the hour, the Northern Irish stopper had a debut to remember and looked a safe pair of hands throughout.  

Emma Mukandi – 6 – Taken off at half-time, Mukandi had performed decently. 

Gemma Evans – 7 – Tough in the tackle and made numerous important blocks during the game. 

Deanna Cooper – 6 – Struggled to contain Blackstenius but made important contributions throughout. 

Amalie Eikeland – 6 – Worked hard in a few different positions but not enough to impose herself significantly. 

Rachel Rowe – 6 – Hard-working but not many moments to add to the showreel. Cross for Dowie almost saw the striker profit. 

Justine Vanhaevermaet – 6 – A steady presence in front of the defence and often started the attacks Reading had. 

Match Report: Andrew Belt’s report from the Select Car Leasing Stadium

Tia Primmer – 5 – Struggled to make her presence felt in the middle. 

Lily Woodham – 7 – A tireless performance on the left-hand side. Dangerous going forward. Unlucky to concede the penalty. 

Emma Harries – 6 – Found lots of room on the right wing but unable to turn this into a decisive action. Should have scored before going off injured at the end. 

Natasha Dowie – 7 – Defended set pieces well and almost found an equaliser towards the end. A ball-shy evening up top but did well whenever afforded the opportunity. 

Faye Bryson – 6 – Defended well in the second half. 

Lauren Wade and Charlie Wellings – n/a. Not on long enough

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