A proud Brian Sorensen has called for his Everton side to keep fighting and build on Saturday’s strong performance against one of the Barclays Women's Super League’s top teams. 

Despite the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, the Toffees put in a spirited performance at Meadow Park, falling just short in their attempts to cancel out the first half opener scored by Vivianne Miedema.   

The game was, however, only the second time the Gunners had failed to score twice or more in a league game season, signalling just how tough of a fixture it was for the home side. 

“I think at the end we really tried to go for it. The girls did excellent,” Sorensen told evertonfc.com.   

"Overall, first half, we are happy with large parts of it, second half we become a bit too passive maybe in the beginning, but at the end, we pushed forward and had the chances to equalise.   

“They could have also broken away, but that’s how it is when you take those chances.   

“But yeah I am happy, proud of the girls and their performance against a top, top quality team.”  

The hosts enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball and efforts on goal, however, Everton did an outstanding job defensively which nearly led to a grandstand finish when each of Lucy Graham, Karen Holmgaard and Kenzie Weir went close in stoppage time to draw the Blues level. 

“I think if you look at the statistics, we are even in large parts,” Sorensen continued.  

“They, of course, have much more shots on goal but I feel like it’s from areas where we can control it, from outside the box a lot.   

“Of course, they also have a lot of corners, they get some chances from there, but it’s not like clear-cut chances so I am happy with that.”  

“Emily [Ramsey] did good, to be fair, I think she should save each of the chances, except the goal which was powerful but the others, she did her job and did well so good for her.”  

The manager was also keen to pay homage to Nicoline Sorensen who made her first appearance of the season after over 14 months on the sidelines.   

“She had a good assist that could have led to a goal, and a couple of chances where we were breaking away so it’s nice to have Nico back, she’s a top player and top person, so happy for her." 

Everton will now turn their attention to Wednesday night when they travel to Manchester United in the Continental League Cup, and the boss believes his side will rest up before being ready to go again and put in a big performance against one of the strongest opponents in the competition.   

“I know they [Arsenal] had some injuries who are on their way back but that was a proper team they put on the field today, really good in all areas.   

“So, we just need to keep working, keep grinding and see if we can close that gap [on the top teams] at some point.   

“But overall, the performance we put in, the energy, the meters we run was good, now we have a couple of days rest and then we will be ready for United on Wednesday.”