Albion still have work to do to secure their WSL status after suffering a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal.
In front of a crowd of 4411, the Gunners went 2-0 up inside eight minutes through Stina Blackstenius’s double and by half-time they led 4-0 with Frida Maanum and Victoria Pelova also on target.
Albion improved in the second half with Elisabeth Terland and Libby Bance both going close but the damage had been done.
Albion are five points clear of Reading, who occupy the only relegation place, with two games to go. They had taken a massive step towards safety with victory over West Ham on Sunday but they struggled to emulate that performance against an impressive Arsenal team.
Albion made the worst possible start by conceding two goals in the first eight minutes and it came as little surprise that Blackstenius was our nemesis.
The Sweden international had three goals in two games against Albion and made it five in three with her double strike.
On six minutes she broke down the left and when Zoe Morse, who was on the cover, slipped Blackstenius steered a low shot into the far corner.
Two minutes later she intercepted Guro Bergsvand’s pass out and placed her shot beyond Megan Walsh into the bottom corner.
Replays showed that she was onside when she raced through again to find the bottom corner in the 12th minute, but fortunately for Albion the assistant raised his flag.
But Blackstenius’s movement and pace caused Albion all sorts of problems. On 28 minutes she beat Walsh with a header from Noelle Maritz’s left-wing cross but her effort came back off the bar. Moments later she capitalised on a slip by Morse but steered her shot into the side netting.
Kayleigh Green had Albion’s best first-half chance but directed her header from Katie Robinson's cross wide. Albion struggled to get any momentum though and found themselves 3-0 down on 39 minutes when Maanum was unmarked when she rose to meet Lotte Wubben-Moy’s cross and head past Walsh for her fifth WSL goal in her last five games.
It got even worse on the stroke of half-time when Victoria Pelova broke into space in the inside right channel and held off Bergsvand’s challenge to fire past Walsh at her near post.
Walsh showed good reactions to prevent Green’s sliced clearance from going into her own net after the break and then made a terrific save diving to her left to deny Blackstenius, who had raced clear of the home defence again looking to complete her hat-trick.
Albion rallied and had a good spell midway through the second half. Top scorer Elisabeth Terland nearly pulled one back on 63 minutes with a volley which Manuela Zinsberger pushed away for a corner. Julia Zigiotti tested Zinsberger with a drive through a crowd of players before Albion pressed to win the ball back and seemed set to score, but Vea Sarri’s effort was blocked by Jen Beattie.
At the other end Walsh made another fine save to keep out Kathrine Kuhl’s shot after another quick Arsenal counter-attack but Albion had offered much more of an attacking threat in the second half and substitute Libby Bance was denied a goal with 16 minutes left by Lotte Wubben-Moy’s terrific block from Bance’s right-foot shot.
Not our night and the next opportunity to bounce back comes on Sunday week away to Everton in our penutlimate fixture of the season.
Albion: Walsh, Pattinson, Bergsvand (Symonds 77), Morse, Kullberg, Robinson (Vasalli 77), Zigiotti (Carter 77), Stefanovic (Bance 45), Green, Lee (Sarri 45), Terland.
Subs not used: Startup, Stott, V. Williams.
Referee: Kirsty Dowle
Attendance: 4411