Key events
21 min: Mead is in the thick of it again for Arsenal. She exchanges passes with a teammate and buys the space for a shot, right-footed, from the edge of the area. It’s on target but lacks the power to test Endler.
Goal! 18 min: Arsenal 1-1 Lyonnes (Dumornay)
Oh no. A horrible error by Van Domselaar gifts a goal to the visitors. The Arsenal goalie looks for Catley with a simple pass out to the left full-back position, but scuffs it straight to Dumornay. The Haitian’s first effort is saved, but it rebounds back, and she tucks the ball into an empty net with Van Domselaar stranded.
17 min: Russo makes a dart down the right wing. Bacha does well to cover the danger and clear for a throw. “The Arsenal” remain on the front foot, and the crowd are showing their appreciation.
15 min: Arsenal have certainly been the better side. They’ve shown good composure on the ball and thus far, Slegers’ selection has paid off. Can they create a bit of daylight on the scoreboard, though?
11 min: Selma Bacha has a shot blocked for Lyonnes on the edge. A corner results, taken by Bacha herself, and then another from the opposite side of the pitch. Dumornay shoots from the edge of the box this time, from the second corner, but it’s always wide of the target.
Mead was in a forest of bodies on the edge of the box. She battled her way past one challenge, maybe two, and then tucked a smart little diagonal ball to her teammate Russo. The England striker needed no second invitation to bury a clinical finish low into the corner, with no chance for Christiane Endler in goal. A top, top finish and well created by Mead. Just the start that Arsenal Women were hoping for.
Goal! 7 min: Arsenal 1-0 Lyonnes (Russo)
Great work by Mead to create a one-on-one for Russo, and she buries it in the far corner with a minimum of fuss!
5 min: Catley is fouled on halfway, in front of the benches, by Marie-Antoinette Katoto. That is a very clumsy challenge with studs showing and I’ve seen red cards given for less, or certainly similar. It’s a yellow card. The Arsenal Women staff aren’t happy.
3 min: After the Gunners enjoy a decent bit of the ball to begin with, Melchie Dumornay fires a dangerous low ball across from the right wing for Lyonnes.
2 min: Arsenal enjoy an early spell of possession, playing a few decent triangles here and there, and getting a welcome feel of the ball at their feet early on.
First half kick-off
Allez!
Arsenal huddle. They need a result, don’t they?
Under five minutes until kick-off. The home fans are in fine voice as the teams make their way on to the Meadow Park pitch. OL Lyonnes, by the way, have won the Women’s Champions League / European Cup a record eight times. It might be the first day of the competition, but this is massive.
Speaking of the Arsenal head coach Slegers, she’s just had a chat with Disney Plus, with the estimable Alex Scott on presenting and reporting duty:
“We always have high expectations on ourselves,” Slegers says. “But other teams will look at us differently [as champions] and we have to be ready for that.”
Is a European tie a nice break from indifferent domestic form? “We want to play games. This is another short turnaround. Everything starts over again. Last year doesn’t mean anything but there is inspiration from what we did.”
“Lyon have a lot of quality, a lot of pace – it will be a hard game but hopefully we can cause them problems.”
We’ve got a fresh hit of the Women’s Football Weekly podcast right here.
The panel asks whether Manchester City’s 3‑2 win over Arsenal is the clearest sign yet that Andrée Jeglertz’s side believe they can go all the way, and what Renée Slegers must do to arrest Arsenal’s faltering form.
“It’s hard not to agree wholeheartedly with Jeremy Boyce,” writes Charles Antaki.
“There’s something regal about Leah Williamson’s presence that transmits the composure that’s been lacking at crucial moments this term (see: last minutes of Villa game; last minutes of Man City game).
“As her replacement in the back line, Katie Reid is a wonderful prospect, but still raw. But really the whole team, with the honourable exception of Emily Fox, has looked tepid and tame in the WSL. The Champions League should fire them up. Hopefully.”
“I think it’s fairly clear to see that Arsenal are struggling defensively without their Captain/Leader/Legend, the magnificent Leah Williamson,” emails Jeremy Boyce.
“They have a great squad of quality players, but sometimes when you lose a key element in a key position it can be difficult. See Gordon Banks/Peter Bonnetti, World Cup quarter-final 1970.
“League, Schmeague, they didn’t win it last year either, but they won the big one and the whole squad stepped up when it counted. Don’t go writing them off just yet …”
Teams
Five changes for Arsenal Women from the side that lost a five-goal thriller at Manchester City on Sunday. Katie Reid, Taylor Hinds, Chloe Kelly, Frida Maanum and Beth Mead all come into the starting lineup, with Lotte Wubben-Moy, Katie McCabe, Victoria Pelova, Olivia Smith and Caitlin Foord shifting to the bench. It’s a full Arsenal debut for Hinds after arriving from Liverpool.
Arsenal Women (4-2-3-1): Van Domselaar; Fox, Reid, Catley, Hinds; Little, Caldentey; Kelly, Maanum, Mead; Russo. Substitutes: Zinsberger, Borbe, Wubben-Moy, Codina, McCabe, Smith, Foord, Pelova, Nighswonger, Blackstenius, Cooney-Cross, Harwood.
OL Lyonnes (4-2-3-1): Endler; Tarciane, Renard, Engen, Bacha; Albert, Horan; Diani, Dumornay, Chawinga; Katoto. Substitutes: Micah, Junttila-Nelhage, Becho, Lawrence, Egurrola, Hegerberg, Sombath, Yohannes, Svava, Benyahia, Brand, Joseph.
The Women’s Champions League has a new format this season. Uefa insist that it is “exciting”.
It’s a “Swiss” system as now seen in the men’s competition: an 18-team group phase, when each team plays six matches, three home and three away.
The top four qualify for the quarter-finals, while those sides placed 7th to 12th will play two-legged playoff ties to try and make it into the last eight. The sides ranked 13th and below are eliminated.
Arsenal’s fixtures in the exciting new format are as follows:
7 October (8pm) v Lyon (H)
16 October (8pm) v Benfica (A)
12 November (5.45pm) v Bayern Munich (A)
19 November 19 v Real Madrid (H)
9 December 9 v Twente (H)
17 December (8pm) v OH Leuven (A)
Preamble
“You never retain anything,” as a wise sports coach once said. “You give it back, and try to win it again.”
Arsenal Women begin their attempt at a second consecutive Women’s Champions League this evening against OL Lyonnes, and recent results mean they should approach a new European campaign with a degree of humility rather than the swagger of champions. The Gunners are winless domestically since nearly a month ago, most recently losing 3-2 to Manchester City on Sunday, and basic tasks such as defending set-pieces and corners suddenly seem to be a challenge.
Lyonnes, on the other hand, are unbeaten in all competitions since being turned over by Arsenal in their two-legged semi-final late last season. (A remarkable 4-1 win in France, after a 2-1 first-leg loss, secured Arsenal’s passage to the final and to ultimate glory.)
“We start from scratch,” said the Arsenal Women head coach, Renée Slegers, hitting the right notes of new-season renewal and humility. “We’re very proud of what we did last year and there was a lot going into that, but we all start over again, and everyone is constantly developing.”
Can Arsenal shrug off indifferent domestic form and get their Women’s Champions League campaign off to a strong start? We’re about to find out.
Kick-off: 8pm UK time.
