Our photographers captured the moment when Vivianne Miedema scored—including our number 11’s quite unusual celebration—for the first time since her injury return!
When Vivianne Miedema scored her first goal on Sunday after recovering from an injury, she couldn’t stop grinning.
With each game, the WSL’s all-time top scorer has grown more powerful, agile, and intelligent. Against Liverpool, she was rewarded for her efforts when she broke the scoreless draw in a spectacular way in the second half with a goal from outside the box.
“To be honest, I don’t really think I celebrate goals but all the girls came up to me and they were taking the mick out of me because they were like ‘You were actually celebrating'” , Miedema said reporters following the match.
“It has taken a while to arrive. I’ve been playing extremely well in training and scoring lots of goals, so it feels great to be doing it here—obviously in the league—again.
Many of the girls approached me right away after [scoring]. They all knew that I wasn’t going to run back, which simply makes it more memorable. Although winning is undoubtedly the main goal of football, I believe that at times like these we should also celebrate and have fun.”
Miedema first played again after her injury in December against Bristol City, but she feels that her confidence has increased since the new year and is beginning to show in her performances.
“I intended to use the winter vacation as a time to reset, and I’ve done just that—I’ve returned and am starting to be myself again. I’m feeling better. I believe that during the past few games, you’ve noticed that I’m less afraid.
“The girls advised me to just shoot and go for it today, but sometimes I have to listen to other people too.
“To be honest, it’s only a small sense of relief. My reputation is that of a goal striker. Although it’s a different position for me now that I play as a 10, I believe the pressure will be completely removed when the first one goes in and after talking to Beth about it as well.
“You just have to get back into the swing of things and start having fun playing outside. I’m simply so relieved that it was accepted today and that we can put that incident behind us.”
