Arsenal laid their Champions League credentials out on the crisp Emirates Stadium pitch last night, a remarkable 3-0 victory ensuring their passage to the semi-finals.
This was arguably the Gunners’ finest performance of the season: Kim Little was metronomic, Leah Williamson elite, Mariona Caldentey hungry, Alessia Russo clinical and Chloe Kelly unplayable, as they dominated from start to finish. Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe played her part too, busy contributing to a fine attacking performance and delivering inviting crosses from dead-ball situations.
The home side had been profligate in the first half, but it mattered little with three goals in a rampant 13 minutes setting up a delicious semi-final against the eight-time Champions League winners Lyon and the former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro.
In front of more than 20,000 fans who anxiously urged their team forward again and again. Arsenal sought to reduce the deficit early on. The home team were dominant, accruing more than 65% of possession in the first half and 26 touches in the opposition box to Madrid’s three.
For all that, though, the final ball was poor, one shot on target before the interval a damning statistic. Maëlle Lakrar did well to deny Russo after a wonderful flick from McCabe was met by the England forward and an unmarked Caldentey sent a header off the bar from the resulting corner.
It took one minute in the second half for Arsenal to do what they had not been able to do for 45 minutes: capitalise on Kelly’s crosses. Russo turned in from her England teammate straight after the restart and three minutes later the tie was level via the same source – this time Caldentey’s head was there to meet Kelly’s ball and direct it coolly past Misa Rodríguez.
Just before the hour Arsenal had the lead in the tie for the first time when McCabe’s free-kick was nodded down by Steph Catley and swept in by Russo. The turnaround was remarkable and deserved and the Emirates Stadium crowd delighted in every touch, turn and pass.
Gunners boss Renee Slegers, who took over in October as interim before being named permanent coach in January, will now lead her team against Lyon in the semi-finals next month.
“We’ve done really good things before and had good performances against good teams but this is definitely one of them,” Slegers said when asked if the win was the best night of her tenure. “This is maybe the clearest one where you play an opponent away, the game looks like it does and then you come back a week after and put a performance and result forward. So I think this is probably the clearest one.” – Guardian Service