Julius OkorieThree goals in 13 minutes, was all it took for Arsenal ladies, to effectively overturn the first leg advantage of Real Madrid in the Women Champions League quarter final clash on Wednesday.
The drama at the Emirates Stadium in front of 22,517, saw Allesia Russo deliver a brace with Mariona Caldentey accounting for a third goal for the Gunners.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelReal Madrid had headed to the Emirates with 2-0 advantage in the first leg with intent to fight for consolidation at the Emirates, a dream which evaporated as the Gunners progressed on 3-2 aggregate and have now set up a two-legged semifinal clash against veterans Lyon.
Real had proved a tough nut to crack for wasteful Arsenal before half-time but collapsed following Russo’s opener.
What remained of their lead was snatched away three minutes later when Mariona Caldentey’s header, from another Kelly cross, slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Misa to level the tie.
Fittingly, Russo saved the best goal, which proved to be the winner, for just 10 minutes later, lashing Steph Catley’s knock-down into the roof of the net from a free-kick, with the forward in disbelief at the speed of the Gunners’ fightback.
The hosts survived a rare Real Madrid scare late on when Linda Caicedo shot straight at Daphne van Domselaar, but were otherwise rarely troubled at the Emirates in front of a record crowd at this stage of the Women’s Champions League.
The victory, which had looked such a tough ask with only 45 minutes of the tie left, sets up a double-header with French champions Lyon and former manager Joe Montemurro in the final four, on the midweeks of April 19-20 and April 26-27.
Much of the build-up to Wednesday’s second leg had centred around the state of the Real Madrid pitch from the first, with Renee Slegers even joking Arsenal had “played on rocks” in the Spanish capital in their 2-0 defeat last week.
READ ALSO:Women Champions League: Man City End Chelsea’s Unbeaten Run, Blues plot Revenge
Real were criticised for forcing their women’s side to play in the 6,000-capacity men’s reserve stadium rather than the Bernabeu, which – coupled with heavy rain in Madrid in the build-up to the game – had left Slegers’ side with a physical task they had not expected – and failed to overcome.
Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers reacts to victory over Real Madrid and spoke about the quality of the pitch at the Emirates
Slegers said: “Football is played on grass and we obviously played on grass in Madrid, but any team will play better football on good pitches.
“The pitch at the Emirates is amazing, and we want to be a team who finds ways to win – so whatever the circumstances, whatever the surface, we want to be able to beat our opponent.
“We’re critical of ourselves in the game away in Madrid, but we’re very happy with our performance today.”
Other semifinalist will emerge today as Barcelona take on Wolfsburg and Chelsea battle Manchester City.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
