Arsenal come back from behind to defeat OL Lyonnes in a frantic game.
Lyon opened the scoring via Jule Brand early on. Arsenal staged a fightback in the second half with an own goal from Ingrid Engen and a clever steal by Olivia Smith to win the game.
They will go to Lyon next weekend with a small but precious advantage.
For this Champions League semi-final, Renee Slegers was missing four players, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Beth Mead, who were out for personal reasons, Chloe Kelly, who had a muscle injury, and Steph Catley, who was injured prior to the international break. That meant there were only 18 players available on the teamsheet.
Arsenal could have added two more registered goalkeepers, but having four on the bench was not really necessary. Lyon were also missing a couple of players named on the teamsheet but not fit to play, such as Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay.
The starting XI was Daphne van Domselaar; Emily Fox, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Katie McCabe; Kim Little, Mariona Caldentey; Olivia Smith, Alessia Russo, Stina Blackstenius, Caitlin Foord. The subs used were Taylor Hinds, Victoria Pelova, Frida Maanum, Laia Codina and Smilla Holmberg.
What is interesting is that Slegers has now clearly decided that McCabe is the back-up choice at LCB over Codina, as it happened again when Hinds came on for Williamson. Codina is also now a regular late substitute in the defensive midfield position.
With the squad short in numbers, players have had to be versatile and adaptable, able to operate in multiple positions, but it is still notable how playing out of position has become normalised under Slegers.
The game was a battle of wills and a very physical one, something that is always the case in Europe. Lyon committed 16 fouls to Arsenal’s six. The French side received three yellow cards and could have had more, while Arsenal could also have had at least one.
In the first half, Arsenal were direct, targeting Blackstenius’ runs behind the defence, but they also struggled at times to play through the Lyon press, which led to the opening goal.
A ball lost in the central area by Foord led to a defensive transition where Arsenal were out of position, making it straightforward for Brand to beat Little and score. This did not happen as often in the second half, aside from the one chance for Kadidiatou Diani that hit the crossbar.
One of the strengths of this Arsenal side is that the coaching staff and players are excellent at making small but crucial adjustments and adapting to the opposition gameplan. That is why Arsenal were able to apply much greater pressure to the OL defensive structure in the second half, and it led to two goals.
The first, a wide free-kick from Caldentey, was fumbled by Christiane Endler and turned into her own goal by Engen. The second came when a backpass towards Endler led to a misunderstanding between Engen and Endler, with Smith anticipating the situation, stealing the ball and finishing into an empty net.
VAR also played its part, taking time to review the first Arsenal goal due to a potential foul before allowing it to stand. That was a positive outcome, while the negative came when VAR did not award a penalty for a challenge by Wendie Renard on Little.
Overall, VAR was applied correctly.
What remains frustrating is that broadcasters receive detailed information to pass on to viewers, while supporters inside the stadium do not. That lack of transparency should be addressed.
Arsenal will now play Leicester on Wednesday, with three points a must against a side beaten 5-1 on Sunday.
Leicester are expected to finish bottom and face a relegation play-off against the third-placed team in the WSL2.
There is little doubt that Slegers will rotate, giving starts to players such as Codina, Hinds, Holmberg, Maanum and Pelova, while resting others ahead of the second leg next Saturday.
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