Arsenal kickstart new era with victory after manager's shock resignation

If were hoping for an instant response to what has been a week of incessant turmoil, then Wednesday night's UEFA Women's Champions League victory over Valerenga provided exactly that.

When the group stage draw was made in Nyon last month, Arsenal's home tie against the Norwegian champions hardly jumped out as the most noteworthy of fixtures. Having reached the semi-finals of the competition only two seasons ago, the Gunners will arguably have viewed the visit of Nils Lexerod's side to the Emirates as the most straightforward of their European match-ups.

But football is a tough and transient world and nothing about Arsenal's pre-match build-up had been straightforward.

After weeks of mounting pressure, head coach , with Saturday's 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Chelsea - which led to the emergence of graffiti calling for the Swede's removal - making his position untenable. His departure had felt inevitable and yet the timing - just a week before the October international break - seemed at odds with the natural order of the women's game.

The simmering apathy that underscored Eidevall's final days at the helm perhaps points to a new dawn for the Women's Super League (WSL) - one that is perhaps more akin to the dog-eat-dog world of the Premier League. But, with Arsenal having won just two of their last seven matches in all competitions, the need for some fresh perspective in north London had become glaringly apparent.

A goalless draw with strugglers Everton followed by a 5-2 thumping away to Bayern Munich had already put Eidevall's Arsenal career on life support. The defeat to Chelsea - which left the Gunners five points off the summit of the WSL table after just four games played - made sure it was terminal.

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While the club's search for Eidevall's long-term successor is already underway, it is his former assistant Renee Slegers who has been tasked with presiding over the team in the meantime. "I spoke to him yesterday afternoon and was shocked by the news," Slegers said on Tuesday when quizzed on her reaction the 41-year-old's sudden exit.

"I was very sad because he has been a good leader for the staff and I worked with him before in Sweden and we worked really well together, I am very sad it got to this point."

In football, though, goals can often prove a very hearty tonic and it took less than two minutes for defender Emily Fox to notch the first of the post-Eidevall era on Wednesday night. The hosts started quickly at the Emirates and got their reward when the American bundled the ball home after Caitlin Foord's smart cut-back.

The celebrations were muted in front of the 5,000-strong crowd but it was the best possible way to silence the noise that has been engulfing this corner of north London of late. And Arsenal's night got even better after half an hour, when Foord pounced on Beth Mead's rebounded shot and hammered it into the roof of the net.

Valerenga, however, still posed plenty of problems for their hosts. Janni Thomsen came close to getting on the scoresheet early on, forcing a fine save from Daphne van Domselaar, before Olaug Tvedten capitalised on some shoddy defending from World Cup winner Laia Codina - starting the game in place of Lotte Wubben-Moy, sidelined due to concussion protocol - to halve the deficit before half-time.

And the visitors should have levelled shortly after the restart when Karina Saevik got the better of Codina, but the Norway international's left-footed strike sailed over the bar. It marked a period of encouragement for Valerenga as, after a fast start, many of the problems that have dogged Arsenal in these early weeks of the season once again reared their heads.

The Gunners had more than 75% possession and registered 16 shots on target but their profligacy in front of goal and frailties at the other end of the pitch largely formed the story of the second half as they battled to secure their first Champions League win of the campaign, with Mariona Caldentey's sublime finish in the 85th minute and Alessia Russo's stoppage-time strike adding some rather flattering gloss to the scoreline.

That they managed to get over the line marks an undeniable step in the right direction but it is clear whoever takes the reins on a full-time basis at the Emirates will inherit a team in desperate need of both structure and spark.

For Arsenal, who face West Ham United this weekend in their final game before the international break, their first chapter in their post-Eidevall era is, at least, a victorious one. But, if they are to ensure the story of their season has a happy ending, it is clear there is still plenty of work to do.