Aggressive Arsenal seal Champions League semi-final spot with victory over Bayern Munich | OneFootball

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·29 mars 2023

Aggressive Arsenal seal Champions League semi-final spot with victory over Bayern Munich

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Arsenal have sealed their place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich went into this evening’s quarter-final, second leg tie at the Emirates Stadium leading 1-0 on aggregate, meaning that the race was on for Arsenal to keep their hopes of a European title alive, but two first half goals from Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius helped The Gunners to swing the tie into their favour in front of 21,307 fans.

Some early aggression set the tone for Arsenal’s evening. Bayern Munich gave away cheap possession, allowing Maanum to pick out Caitlin Foord in the box. She tied in teammate Victoria Pelova but the visiting defence dealt with the danger.


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Kim Little was then brought down on the halfway line as she made her way towards Maria Luisa Grohs’ goal, but the referee awarded nothing for the tackle. The Arsenal skipper could not continue, forcing head coach Jonas Eidevall into an early substitution and field change with Lotte Wubben-Moy coming on in her place.

In the 19th minute, Maanum broke the deadlock and brought the sunshine to a rainy Emirates as her shot from outside the box curled into the top left corner of the Bayern Munich net, giving The Gunners a much-needed boost.

Arsenal piled the pressure on their opponents in search of a second goal. They eventually grabbed that goal as Katie McCabe’s cross expertly found Blackstenius, who headed the ball home to double the North Londoners’ lead.

Leah Williamson then sent a headed effort over the bar before Manuela Zinsberger halted Lea Schüller’s run into the box by calmly collecting the ball from the forward at the other end. The visitors briefly looked to regain a grip on the game, but their plans were swiftly derailed as Grohs was forced into saving several shots from red shirts during a scramble in her goal. Wubben-Moy provided the last major goal threat of the first half when her cross hit the woodwork.

Bayern Munich looked to fight back early in the second half. Alexander Straus’ side had a fair spell of possession in the opening minutes, making the game more even. Klara Bühl had an equaliser in her sights, but Arsenal’s defensive efforts kept her contained.

Bühl continued to press as she attempted to use Arsenal’s left flank to give her side an edge. Meanwhile, McCabe danced around defenders, showing off some impressive footwork, as she made her way into the Bayern Munich box, but a more concise-looking visiting defence cleared her attempt.

Lia Wälti then played in Pelova via a free-kick. The Dutch international set up Foord perfectly in the box, however, her shot flew inches over the crossbar.

Arsenal were forced into another change due to injury late in the game as Lina Hurtig replaced McCabe, who hopped off the pitch and looked to be in a fair amount of discomfort. There was little time remaining on the clock at that point and The Gunners were able to hang onto a 2-1 aggregate success which sees them become UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finalists.

Eidevall’s side will face either Paris Saint-Germain or VfL Wolfsburg in the semi-finals next month.

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