Arsenal Women rewarded over 200 travelling fans with a classy 4-0 win over Juventus in Northern Italy on Tuesday evening.

Frida Maanum found the net once again before second half goals from substitutes Stina Blackstenius and Mariona Caldentey, as well as the excellent Caitlin Foord.

Here are three things we learned from the Gunners trip to Biella:

The Renee Slegers resurgence goes from strength to strength

If Renee Slegers’ first weeks as interim head coach were a case of keeping her head down and finding her feet, the Dutchwoman seems to now be really enjoying herself in this new role. And why wouldn’t she? 

After thrashing Brighton on Friday night, Slegers led Arsenal to a triumphant away win against a more than decent opposition in the form of Juventus. The goals are finally following, and the defensive errors that were fatal for Jonas Eidevall seem to have been locked away again. 

It’s no wonder Slegers was filmed grinning from ear to ear celebrating with the travelling Arsenal fans as the Gunners’ team bus pulled out of the Stadio Lamarmora-Pozzo. More and more of those supporters seem to be inclined towards her taking the role permanently, and recent evidence is certainly in her favour. 

Gooners, one of our best away games. The atmosphere was unbelievable and the performance matched it. A cheeky celebration with the gaffer at the end ?

— Arsenal Women Supporters Club (@ArsenalWomenSC) November 12, 2024

Crucial early saves from Daphne van Domselaar

Few Arsenal fans would have expected a victory as one-sided as it turned out, and Daphne van Domselaar’s early heroics played a significant role in this. The Dutch goalkeeper replaced Manu Zinsberger in Arsenal’s only change from Friday’s win, and kept her first Champions League clean sheet.

Juventus started the game well and found gaps in Arsenal’s defence, but van Domselaar pulled off some crucial saves to prevent an early goal for Juventus. Her composure on the ball was also notable, with the 24-year-old confident playing out from the back.

Arsenal’s attack build on Brighton thumping

Arsenal finally showed their ruthlessness in front of goal against a very poor Brighton defence, but crucially were able to continue that goalscoring resurgence away from home in the Champions League.

Foord’s brilliant reverse-pass to tee up Maanum was a goal where the assist outshone the finish itself, before Blackstenius and Mariona found composure in the box to blast efforts past Peyraud-Magnin.

The impact of substitutes will also have been a real delight for Slegers, with two scoring and Kyra Cooney-Cross assisting Foord’s goal.

Over land and sea, and Italy

I put it to Renee Slegers after the game that for every sold-out Emirates Stadium, 200 travelling fans making the difficult journey to Biella, halfway between Turin (Juventus’ ‘home’) and Milan, should be seen as just as impressive.

“Yeah, I agree,” said the interim manager. “I had a good view of our fans tonight on the other side and I could see them singing and being active and this is an intimate stadium, so I am sure the girls could see and hear them as well. They can give us those extra percentages in terms of our performance. That is really great.”

I asked Renee Slegers about the challenges of playing away in the Champions League and the importance of Arsenal's fantastic away support- @GoonerFanzine ??"I'm sure the girls could hear and see them as well, and they could give us those extra percentages" ? pic.twitter.com/djSttKoRUx

— Freddie Cardy (@CardyFreddie) November 12, 2024

Those who had made the journeys from London and elsewhere were also joined by members of Arsenal Italia, who had watched the Gunners be frustrated in Italy by Atalanta and Inter Milan, but were finally rewarded with a win by Arsenal Women. Nights like this make the early starts, flights and train journeys all worthwhile.