Beth Mead's Arsenal start on anniversary of ACL injury is "huge", says manager Jonas Eidevall

Jonas Eidevall described Beth Mead’s first start for Arsenal since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as "huge".

Mead suffered an ACL injury during a Women's Super League encounter between Arsenal and Manchester United on November 19, 2022.

The 28-year-old underwent surgery and has spent the majority of the past year returning to fitness.

She came off the bench against Aston Villa on October 15, playing a crucial role in Arsenal's dramatic 2-1 victory, but had only appeared as a substitute since.

Mead was finally named in the starting lineup for Arsenal on Sunday, playing 64 minutes at Broadfield Stadium as the Gunners eased to a 3-0 win.

She had a good chance to score in the 63rd minute but her shot was just a fraction too high, and she was replaced by Cloe Lacasse not long after.

"Today I took the decision to take her off with my eyes," Eidevall said of Mead’s substitution. "Today was 60 minutes and next time we'll see.

"It's a huge step in her return to play by starting a game. It gives us a really important tool at this point in the season, when we can see that we have great competition in our forward positions."

Mead had enjoyed the most prolific season of her career to date prior to her ACL injury, scoring 11 goals and setting up eight more in the WSL. She also won the Golden Boot at Euro 2022, scoring six goals as the Lionesses won their first major title.

The forward was one of four Arsenal players to tear an ACL last season, along with Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither.

Miedema has also made her comeback, featuring as a substitute during Arsenal’s match against Bristol City in October. She currently has a "minor issue" which has kept her out of the squad in recent weeks.

Eidevall enthused about the opportunity to have increased squad depth as his injured players started to make their return.

"When you see the goals that we scored, I don't think that's a coincidence with us having real quality players coming on with fresh legs, being able to capitalise on the space we had there," he said.

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