Arsenal came back from 2-0 down against Wolfsburg in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final to ensure the return game at the Emirates Stadium at the start of next month will now be a winner takes all affair.
Ewa Pajor and Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir had given the German hosts a commanding lead at the Volkswagen Arena. Yet Rafaelle headed Arsenal back into it, before the tireless Stina Blackstenius equalised to given the Gunners arguably the most slender of advantages at home next time.
Arsenal lost Leah Williamson to an ACL injury on Wednesday night, the latest key player to be ruled out of action for the Gunners, and that likely influenced manager Jonas Eidevall to line up in a damage limitation-style 5-4-1 formation at the Volkswagen Arena.
Wolfsburg unsurprisingly dominated the ball from the start and looked a threat, particularly on the left where Jonsdottir’s pace was an issue for the Gunners. But it was from the other side that Pajor’s opener was made, with Jonsdottir drifting into the middle to take down a cross from deep and feed the Polish number nine – she finished with composure past Manuela Zinsberger.
Wolfsburg’s second was opportunistic and entirely the result of Arsenal’s own mistake. Receiving the ball from a goal kick, Jennifer Beattie played it out to Rafaelle, who returned the pass across the box. But with the ball too far in front of Beattie, Jonsdottir shot in for an easy tap-in.
Arsenal were on the ropes at the stage and were just trying to hold on. But the visiting Gunners did weather the storm and actually began to build a little momentum towards the end of the first half. Frida Maanum, whose strength, power and hard running was always likely to be a weapon, was engineered into space and forced Merle Frohms into a good save.
From the resultant corner, Rafaelle rose highest at the far post to halve the deficit.
The second half lacked momentum from either side. Wolfsburg were still on top without making the most of that dominance, while Arsenal understandably seemed reluctant to commit too many players forward at the risk of being hit for a third.
Wolfsburg’s mistake then proved to be pushing too hard for that third goal, leaving space that the Gunners were suddenly able to exploit. Lotte Wubben-Moy saw an opportunity to slip in Victoria Pelova in the inside right channel, with the ball across an easy tap-in for Blackstenius.
Jill Roord nearly restored Wolfsburg’s lead against her former club with a low shot towards the far corner that had Zinsberger scrambling, while Roord had other shots closed down and substitute Tabea Wassmuth couldn’t connect with a clever through ball from Svenja Huth.
The closing moments saw a flashpoint when Lena Oberdorf was booked for a full-blooded tackle, but Katie McCabe took the law into her own hands and aggressively knocked the Wolfsburg midfielder to the ground in retaliation. For that, she too received only a yellow.
GK: Merle Frohms – 5/10 – Not massively busy. Distribution was disappointing though.
RB: Lynn Wilms – 7/10 – Limited what Arsenal could create down her flank and also made an impact going forward too.
CB: Kathrin Hendrich – 7/10 – Commanding and hardly gave the ball away.
CB: Dominique Janssen – 5/10 – Her lack of pace looked it could be a weakness and Arsenal eventually exploited it for the equaliser.
LB: Felicitas Rauch – 6/10 – Usually looked forward with the ball.
CM: Lena Oderdorf – 6/10 – Guilty of not really challenging Rafaelle when she was marking the Brazilian when Arseal pulled one back. Routinely won the ball back but didn’t always use it well.
CM: Jill Roord – 7/10 – An attacking threat and did both sides of the ball well.
RM: Svenja Huth (c) – 8/10 – Excellent on the ball and made chances.
AM: Jule Brand – 6/10 – Showed excellent close control on a few occasions to try and make things happen in a crowded Arsenal penalty area. Nothing much came of it though.
LM: Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir – 8/10 – Had the awareness to capitalise on an Arsenal mistake to double her team’s lead, having already set up the first. An obvious threat from the early moments.
ST: Ewa Pajor – 7/10 – Took her opening goal well. Willing to move all over for the ball.
Substitutes
SUB: Tabea Wassmuth (64′ for Brand) – 6/10
Manager
Tommy Stroot – 6/10 – Will have been disappointed to see his team give up a 2-0 lead. Largely kept faith with his starters when perhaps it needed more from the bench. The tie should be over already.
GK: Manuela Zinsberger – 5/10 – Only ended up making one save.
RB: Noelle Maritz – 6/10 – Had her work cut out against Jonsdottir, yet also got forward well to make the chance that eventually led to Rafaelle’s goal.
CB: Lotte Wubben-Moy – 6/10 – Stood off too much when Jonsdottir made the opener for Pajor. But she made Arsenal’s equaliser possible with a great ball forward.
CB: Jennifer Beattie – 5/10 – Not fully to blame but still cuplable for the Wolfsburg second. Didn’t seem to be expecting the pass back from Rafaelle.
CB: Rafaelle – 6/10 – Made up for her error leading to the second Wolfsburg goal by scoring at the other end to get Arsenal back into it.
LB: Steph Catley – 6/10 – Delivered quality corners.
RM: Victoria Pelova – 7/10 – Tried to make sure Blackstenius wasn’t too isolated. Not much impact for the first hour but then made the equaliser with good pace and movement.
CM: Frida Maanum – 7/10 – Looked to carry Arsenal on her back when things got tough and won the corner from which Rafaelle scored.
CM: Lia Walti – 7/10 – Provided decent defensive cover and was composed on the ball, which allowed Arsenal to grow into the game.
LM: Katie McCabe (c) – 6/10 – Back in the side after a domestic suspension.
ST: Stina Blackstenius – 8/10 – Led the press and chased really hard but didn’t get a lot of the ball to begin with and often had to run up blind alleys. Got her reward with Arsenal’s second.
Substitutes
SUB: Laura Wienroither (70′ for Catley) – 6/10
SUB: Kathrine Kul (90′ for Pelova) – N/A
Manager
Jonas Eidevall – 7/10 – Set up in a very deliberate way to try and limit Wolfsburg. Given that one of the goals conceded was an individual mistake, it actually worked.
Player of the match – Stina Blackstenius (Arsenal)
Credit: 90min.com
