Vidosic: Tactical changes helped us to victory

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Head coach with his thoughts after Albion beat Arsenal 2-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Adobe FA Cup.

Luke Nicoli

2026-04-05T16:10+01:00

Dario Vidosic said Albion adapted to tricky conditions well in their 2-0 win over Arsenal. 📷Kyle Hemsley

Head coach Dario Vidosic admitted a last-minute change of approach helped his side to a memorable 2-0 Adobe FA Cup quarter-final victory at Arsenal.

Goals from Madison Haley and Caitlin Hayes booked the Seagulls place in the last four of competition, with the side adapting very well to what was a difficult pitch and windy conditions at Meadow Park.

“We're delighted with the result,” said Vidosic. “We would have loved to play a little more football but we heard about the condition of the pitch this morning and when we arrived we adapted accordingly.

“We elected to be a little more direct in the first phase of play and then tried to play more in their half. I thought we did that really well and in the opening 20 minutes we had control and created some good chances.

“Given the quality Arsenal have, we were always going to need to react to their attacking threat and I thought we did that very well. We then scored the goal early in the second half, got the second and defensively we were excellent.

Fran Kirby hugs Caitlin Hayes after Hayes doubled Albion's lead against Arsenal. 📷Kyle Hemsley

“Arsenal are able to bring off one front line and replace it with another, but we stood up to the test. We covered the ground, closed down the spaces we needed to, and that has put us in the hat for the next round.”

At the heart of Albion's best attacking moves was Fran Kirby, who had a hand in both goals, and Vidosic was delighted with her contribution.

“Fran again showed the quality she has,” he added. “At half-time she was calming everyone down and speaking to players. She's obviously been in these moments, she understands what's required, and she played a big part for us – both on and off the pitch.”

Vidosic was also delighted for the vocal travelling supporters who made the trip on Easter Sunday – and hopes to see more faces at our games after the international break.

“I'm very thankful for the fans who travel these long distances and spend a lot of money watching us – so this win was for them. I hope they can see that we're building something nice and I encourage more people to join us and be with us.

“We now have the international break and hopefully our players come back with a clean bill of health for what we hope will be an exciting and successful end to the season.”