The Washington Spirit hosted Arsenal in front of 15,062 fans at Audi field on August 18, 2024. The game was a preseason match for the Arsenal side while the Spirit were coming back from a midseason break of over a month due to the Olympics. Arsenal’s roster included many of its stars along with some Academy players. The Spirit were without their four US Olympic roster players as well as new signing, English International Esme Morgan. New Spirit players Leicy Santos and Rosemonde Kouassi were in the starting XI.
Arsenal scored first with a shot from Alessia Russo in the tenth minute after an attempted clearance by the Spirit. The next thirty five minutes were hard fought but neither side were able to put the ball in the net, although the Spirit had a number of attempts. Finally, in stoppage time, Spirit forward Ouleye Sarr had three attempts in quick succession, the final of which off a long ball in from midfielder Andi Sullivan resulted in a header into the net. The teams went into the locker rooms tied 1-1.
The second half saw the Spirit control much of the ball, although for naught. In the 74th minute, Arsenal midfielder Alessia Russo again was able to score after getting one on one with Kingbury and rounding the Spirit keeper to send the ball into the net. The Spirit had a number of chances to even the score but were unable to finish, leaving them one down when the final whistle blew.
