New era, same old Gunners: Lisa Baum starts with a bang on opening weekend

The Women’s Super League is officially back, and Arsenal wasted zero time making a statement. Summer signing Lisa Baum marked her competitive debut in style down at Broadfield Stadium, netting the only goal in a gritty 1-0 win over Brighton.

With just 10 minutes on the clock, the 19-year-old sensation glided effortlessly through the Brighton defence before rifling an absolute rocket home via the crossbar at the near post. Talk about a dream introduction to life in North London!

Baum wasn’t the only fresh face thrown straight into the deep end by Renee Slegers. The teenager made her bow alongside an elite cast of new arrivals: goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, defender Ona Batlle, and midfielder Georgia Stanway.

Arsenal completely dominated the opening exchanges, holding over 70% possession early on, though Alessia Russo will probably want a second chance at an open goal after she blazed over following Baum’s opener.

Sweating on the sidelines

Despite the Gunners controlling long spells of the match, they just couldn’t find that elusive second goal to kill the game off.

Russo squandered another golden opportunity, while substitute Stina Blackstenius nearly wrapped things up late on, only for Brighton goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie to pull off a stunning, strong-handed save to push her bottom-corner effort behind.

That lack of a cushion meant Arsenal had to weather a serious storm. Brighton kept fighting tooth and nail, carving out plenty of chances to level.

Kiko Seike tested Rodriguez with a sharp strike that the new keeper handled brilliantly, Fran Kirby fired a close-range volley agonisingly over the bar, and Charlie Rule curled one just wide of the top corner.

It was a proper, chaotic WSL opener, but Arsenal’s rearguard held firm to secure a massive clean sheet.

As Slegers noted after the whistle: “We spent quite some time without the ball, which we want to minimise. It was an okay performance; I think there were highs and lows. We definitely can do more, want to do more, and need to do more. But like I said, this being the opener, Brighton Away, which is a difficult game. Getting the win over the line is something we’ve been talking about, keeping a clean sheet, so I’m happy with that.”

Praise, positivity, and packed houses

For a team that has only been together for five weeks, Arsenal’s new-look squad looked remarkably cohesive.

Slegers was full of high praise for her debutants, particularly singling out the maturity of her young goalscorer and the calming presence of her new number one. “Misa was amazing; her presence in goal was really good. She communicates from behind; she’s always active, and she saves us, so she had a big impact,” Slegers beamed.

“Then Lisa, she’s a very young player, but she doesn’t come across as that young. She’s very mature in the way she thinks and the way she plays. She was really calm today… she showed her skill and what she can do for us and in front of the fans. So it was a special moment for her.”

She added, “It feels like this group has been together for much longer than five weeks. So that’s a really good sign.”

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Over in the Brighton camp, new boss Arturo Ruiz tried to look at the bright side despite handing the Seagulls just their second opening-fixture defeat in the last eight WSL seasons.

“The atmosphere was brilliant, so thank you to all the people who came to support us,” Ruiz said. “We did enough to get at least a point here, and there are way more positive things than negative. I’m happy about the work we did. Obviously, it’s a result we didn’t want, but we’ll be next week to go for the three points.”

Arsenal return home to the Emirates Stadium to play their first home league game of the season against Crystal Palace on Sunday, September 13, 2026, kicking off at 2:45 PM.