Walti makes her feelings clear on Arsenal team-mates after Aston Villa win

Arsenal's Lia Walti was quick to divert praise towards her team-mates after a player of the match display in a huge away win at Aston Villa.

The Gunners took all three points with a 4-1 win, after an own goal plus strikes from Vivianne Miedema, Katie McCabe and Jordan Nobbs overturned Villa's sixth minute opener. Chelsea 's win later on at Reading means the Gunners have to settle for second place in the table over the Christmas break.

But their dazzling display at a chilly Villa Park keeps them firmly in the WSL title race, with their next game in the league against Chelsea on January 15 the first game of the New Year for both. Walti was the pick of the Arsenal players at Villa, controlling possession as Jonas Eidevall's team fought back after going a goal down.

Despite winning player of the match, Walti was quick to mention the efforts of her Gunners teammates, rather than take the praise herself.

"After the first 20 minutes we did really well," The Swiss midfielder told Sky Sports. "I was trying to fill the gap between our attacking and defending line. I have to prevent our team from getting counter attacked, but then also give the ball to our number 10s to create chances.

"I think today Viv (Miedema) was in great positions to receive the ball and it's great to have those players around me. To be honest they make me look better during the game.

"We also had great players coming off from the bench to make a difference, it's great to be part of this team at the moment. We have lots of players back now. Before we had a bit of a small squad, but we managed it pretty well. It is just fun to play football for Arsenal at the moment."

Meanwhile, her manager Eidevall was delighted to see the resilience of his team after suffering an early set back. Kirsty Hanson's superb 20 yard strike gave the hosts the lead as Villa started the better of the two teams. But Arsenal refused to panic and once Miedema put them in front they never looked back.

"One thing that is difficult in that moment (conceding early) is to not let the emotions take over," said Eidevall. "You want to correct things immediately and that can mean that you start stressing things and you lose your formation.

"You lose your balance, and then maybe you get a counter-attack against you, and then there are two goals. Then all of a sudden, you have created a mountain to climb. But we took it step-by-step and that was very good to see."

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