Dominant Arsenal enjoy Glasgow defeat

Arsenal LFC won the first ever Anglo-Scottish UEFA Women's Champions League tie 3-0 against Glasgow City LFC and manager Shelley Kerr told UEFA.com: "We dominated the game from start to finish."

Stephanie Houghton and Danielle Carter scored in the first half before an own goal ensured Arsenal a big advantage for their round of 16 return in Glasgow on Wednesday. That will be a return home for former City player Emma Mitchell, and she is looking forward to a good reception, while visiting manager Eddie Wolecki Black and captain Rachel Corsie explained their defensive approach.

Shelley Kerr, Arsenal manager
I thought we dominated the game from start to finish. We're delighted we got three goals and we are delighted we kept a clean sheet. Sometimes it can be difficult to play against [a team set up to defend] because the game's all about trying to create space. When they are so defensively set up, sometimes it's hard to break a team down. On the other side, it's hard for a team to sustain defending for 90 minutes as it takes a lot of concentration. We've got players who are extremely sharp and fit, and I thought in particular our midfielders got on the ball quite well.

[Scoring from set-pieces] was something we spoke about before the game, but it was very much a team effort. The girls have responded brilliantly, we want to win in the home game and we've done that, and we've done it convincingly.

From the last stage of the competition where we had to travel to Kazakhstan, it's a little easier just flying to Scotland. We are looking forward to it. As a footballer or anyone connected with football, you want to play in big games, and we've got another one game left before our season finishes off so the girls are dead keen to prepare properly for the away leg.

Emma Mitchell, Arsenal defender
I thought we played well in spells of the game. Sometimes we did not move the ball quickly enough but I'm happy with the result and the three goals. We obviously created quite a few chances today and it's just about being able to take them when we need it most. But at the same time we've got three goals and it puts us in a good position for going up to Scotland next week.

[On Wednesday] my family will be there – a few of them were down today – it means they will all be able to see me play which is not something they've been able to do this season. It'll be good to go back up to Glasgow and play at Petershill again. [I expect] a good reception. I was at the club for a long time, four or five good happy years.

I think it will be a good atmosphere and I am looking forward to it. Obviously after the draw I texted a couple of the girls as I am still quite good friends with them. It was exciting and Glasgow are a great club so we always knew it was going to be a hard game to play.

I've really enjoyed it [at Arsenal]. I came down here in July and it's been great. I feel like I've fitted into the team and I'm really enjoying training. It's a good team atmosphere and it is a good team to be a part of.

Danielle Carter, Arsenal forward
It was a good performance from us. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Everyone wants to beat Arsenal, it's a home nations derby. But we are just happy to have got the three goals. It's early doors but I hope I can keep scoring and keep up with the top goalscorers as well.

Credit to the [Glasgow] goalkeeper, she pulled off some good saves, so credit to her, she kept her team in it. It should be a good crowd, a good atmosphere [in Glasgow] but I'm not looking forward to the weather... It'll be good.

Eddie Wolecki Black, Glasgow manager
We were never going to come down here and go all out, that was for sure. The whole point was to make sure we kept that second tie alive, it's probably hanging by a thread at 3-0, no doubt about that, but I can't fault the players for their efforts.

If there's one team we know quite well, it's Arsenal. We knew they would go down the flanks and we knew that's the area where they have a lot of pace. So we knew what to expect there. And the disappointing thing for us is in spite of all the possession that they've had, it has been three set-pieces.

We tried to push on a bit, we tried to get an away goal to make it more of a challenge back home. But that's the danger – if you go to high up against them and push in then they will exploit you because they have a lot of quality.

Rachel Corsie, Glasgow defender
It was difficult for us. Arsenal had a lot of the ball and we knew that if you give the players Arsenal have a lot of time and space they can punish you but I think 3-0 is a result that keeps us in the tie and I am really looking forward to taking it back to Petershill in Glasgow.

The nature of how we lost the [first] goal is very disappointing, it came from a set-piece which is something we are usually very strong with. So it's something we have to look at individually and something we did do better for the rest of the game. Our game plan was to be defensive, our plan was we had to be in the tie come the end of the 90 minutes and that is where we are.