Kelly Smith

WHEN Arsenal Women emerged victorious at the Continental Tyres League Cup final on Sunday, their manager Jonas Eidevall spoke of the male allies who support the team.

“To see a club legend like Ian Wright coming down to the dressing room – to share that moment with him and with Lord Harris from the board – I think it shows the connection that we have in the club,” he said.

It’s not all one-way traffic, though. After Arsenal’s heroic 3-2 win over Bournemouth a day earlier, die-hard fans associated with the women’s team were quick to show their support.

“ABSOLUTE SCEEENNEEESSSS” tweeted Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, while former star striker Kelly Smith posted a celebratory video from the Emirates of herself and her family.

Arsenal had just staged a remarkable fightback from 2-0 down, with midfielder Thomas Partey and defender Ben White restoring parity before Reiss Nelson hit a late-late winner.

And speaking to the Tribune this week, Smith hailed the team for refusing to crumble and manager Mikel Arteta for instilling a winning mentality in his players and a growing belief in the fans.

“What a comeback that was – to score three goals and keep pushing. You can see there’s a real togetherness, confidence and belief,” she said.

“I think Arteta has really unified the team and I haven’t been to a game like that for a long time where the atmosphere was electric from minute one. The fans really got behind the team.

“It was a great weekend to be an Arsenal fan with the women beating Chelsea also.”

A club and country legend in her own right, 44-year-old Smith “fell in love” with Arsenal in the 1980s after her first visit to Highbury.

Having won a raft of titles as a Gunner herself, she now believes the current squad have the never-say-die attitude and principles needed to win a first Premier League title in over two decades.

“They’ve got to play Manchester City at the Etihad but they’ve put themselves in the driving seat,” she added. “Yes, they had a little blip recently, but the pressure is on City, really.”

With five points all that separate the two sides, it keeps the momentum going for the team at the top as we head towards “squeaky bum time”.

Meanwhile, Arsenal will be confident of reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League after drawing their last-16 first-leg tie against Sporting CB last night (Thursday) in Portugal.

The Gunners’ goals came from William Saliba and an own-goal by midfielder Hidemasa Morita as the game finished 2-2.

The two sides meet again on Thursday at the Emirates Stadium.