Arsenal Women came back from two goals down as they produced one of the close football scores of the midweek action in the Women’s Champions League. It was an important victory for the Gunners at the end of a difficult week. In addition to suffering a devastating 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the WSL on Wednesday, their vice-captain Leah Williamson and captain Kim Little have both been injured and are out for the rest of the season. Despite the fact that they did not make life easy for themselves, Sunday’s draw demonstrated that this Arsenal team still has plenty of fight in them.
The Women’s Champions League’s top scorer, Ewa Pajor, swept home in the 19th minute to put them behind. In the 24th minute, Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir doubled Wolfsburg’s lead thanks to a sloppy defensive play by Arsenal. But just before halftime, Rafaelle Souza headed in a corner for her first-ever European goal, sparking the comeback. When Victoria Pelova and Stina Blackstenius connected beautifully, the latter scored the equalizer in the 69th minute. Wolfsburg made a strong late effort to score a third goal, but Arsenal held on to set up an exciting return leg at the Emirates on May 1 as the Gunners seek to make their first European final since 2007.
The Volkswagen Arena was very quiet to begin the match, but Wolfsburg took the lead with the game’s first shot from either side. Pajor was running behind Jonsdottir when she spotted him, and the forward produced a beautiful finish into the far corner. After two of Arsenal’s most seasoned players made a terrible play, Jonsdottir made it two minutes later. Jen Beattie was given the ball back by Rafaelle after the defender was sidestepped, and she waited before shooting past Manuela Zinsberger.
Jonsdottir could have added a third goal right away, but her close-range header flew over the crossbar. For the majority of the first half, Wolfsburg radiated confidence, but just before the break, their defences were broken. For a corner that was taken in the direction of the back post, Frida Maanum’s ferocious attack could be seen from behind. In order to beat the custodian with her header and give Arsenal a chance, Rafaelle climbed above Lena Oberdorf. The game was very chaotic and scrappy for the opening 20 minutes of the second half, but in the 67th minute, Wolfsburg came very close to scoring a third. From close range, substitute Tabea Wassmuth hoisted a header over the crossbar.
It turned out to be a costly error, too, as Arsenal levelled shortly after. Lotte Wubben-Moy identified Pelova, who outran Dominique Janssen on the left side of the pitch. Blackstenius finished off the Gunners’ comeback by tapping in her fizzing cross through the six-yard box. Prior to the game’s conclusion, Wolfsburg ought to have added a third goal as Arsenal continued to play risky. Former Gunner Jill Roord narrowly missed the goal with a shot, and Wassmuth and Jonsdottir also came close. The Gunners managed to hold on after coming back, levelling the pitch before the second leg on May 1.
“You must maintain a process-oriented mindset. We have a sense of who we are and how we want to play to our advantage, and I believe that was a really solid performance from us,” Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall said. “We obviously gave the ball away very cheaply for the second goal, but playing out from the back, dominating the positions, and being courageous and fearless in our play are all things we want to get better at. They provided us with very limited time and room, so you need to be daring and find a free player to switch up your approach to attack them. It’s challenging, but when we succeed, we’re producing some excellent chances for goals. We must work together as a team and be incredibly strong defensively.”
“Wolfsburg had three chances towards the finish, but Arsenal has weathered the storm and now has a great chance to advance to the championship game when they face off again at the Emirates,” Rehanne Skinner said. “Two really competitive teams were attempting to win the game. To their credit, despite being down in the match, Arsenal made sure to stay focused and made things extremely difficult for Wolfsburg.”
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