Arsenal Women’s team had the opportunity to reach the semi-finals of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup on Wednesday evening when they hosted Birmingham City Women at Meadow Park. Read on for Layth Yousif’s PLAYER RATINGS.

Arsenal Women:

Sari van Veenendaal: 8 - Performed a superb penalty save with 20 minutes gone from Blues No25 Aoife Mannion diving full length to her right to keep the ball out.

Katrine Veje: 7 - Elegant touch. Solid defensively while always looking to instigate attacks before making way for Lisa Evans midway through the second half

Janni Arnth: 7 - Aimed to build on her goalscoring debut against West Ham on Sunday. Yet it was her defensive solidity which rightly came to the fore against a lively City side

Louise Quinn: 7 - A towering physical presence who marshalled the backline effectively during a number of dangerous forays from the Blues

Danielle van de Donk: 7.5 - Proved equally adept at breaking up Blues attacks with well-timed interceptions as she did in instigating counters. A class act who deserved her late goal

Kim Little: 7 - Put in a shift

Vivianne Miedema: 7.5 - A powerhouse of a striker but was forced to feed off scraps in the first half as City put the Gunners on the back foot. Could perhaps have angled a second half header more accurately when well-placed. Deserved her late goal to record a dramatic late victory

Katie McCabe: 6.5 - Tenacious in defence. Always looked to supplement colleague further up the field by prompting attacks from the left flank

Liz Walti: 6.5 – Another who worked hard but was unable to influence proceedings on a difficult night

Dominique Bloodworth: 7 - Another attack minded defender who was pinned back by Birmingham’s high press. An excellent player who along with many in red and white did not have her best game

Beth Mead: 6.5 - Not as influential as she would have liked after her stellar performance during the 4-2 victory over West Ham at the weekend but it wasn’t for the want of trying

Substitutes:

Lisa Evans: 6 - On for Veje midway through the second half

Leah Williamson: 7- On for Bloodworth and injected a touch more activity ahead of the equaliser

Birmingham City Women:

Hannah Hampton: 7

Meaghan Sargeant: 7

Hayley Ladd: 7

Kerys Harrop: 7

Chloe Arthur: 7

Lucy Quinn: 7.5

Emma Folils: 7

Charlie Wellings: 7

Harriet Scott: 7.5

Aoife Mannion: 6.5

Lucy Staniforth: 7

Substitutes:

Paige Williams: 6.5 - On for Follis