Arsenal has posted Champions League qualifications on the vivid Emirates Stadium Pitch.
This was undoubtedly the Gunners' best performance of the season, with Kim Little dominating from start to finish in front of a record quarterfinal crowd of 22,517 fans.
They were abundant in the first half, but that was barely important, achieving three goals in 13 minutes and setting a delicious semi-final against eight-time Champions League winners Lyon and former Arsenal manager Joe Montemuro.
The atmosphere around the team was positive. “We believe we can do that,” René Slegger said beforehand. Arsenal had previously been here and had overturned a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich to reach the semi-finals last season, but the mountains were a little bigger and Athenea del Castillo put pressure on the chief's stadium showdown in 82 minutes of Linda Casco's first leg.
There may be no excuses on the carpet-like surface on which their game is built. However, this was in the Arsenal home, in front of over 20,000 fans, and urged their teams over and over again as they tried to reduce the deficit early.
The home team has been ramping, earning over 65% ownership and 26 touches in the first half to the Madrid three. But for all of that advantage, the final ball was poor and one shot was radiant stats on target. Mael Lachler did well to deny Alesia Russo after a great flick from Katie McCabe met England ahead. Caitlyn Ford struggled to connect neatly with Russo's ball, landing heavily and crossing the cross after a cross from Chloe Kelly was wasted.
There was a huge letdown for the gunner in the 41st minute. Daphne van Donceral was the first to save him from Philippa Angeldal, who shot him from the edge of the box.
It was the last meaningful action of the first half, with hope etched from the north London side beginning to permeate the crowd. Madrid is well organized, and only made one forced change to the team that won in Spain, and Melanie Roupols was not injured. They absorbed Arsenal's pressure relatively comfortably.
There was no time to waste, but the blueprint was there in the first half. It took Arsenal a minute to do what he couldn't do for 45 minutes. Take advantage of Kelly's Cross. Russo handed over from his British teammate shortly after the restart, and three minutes later the tie was leveled through the same source. This time, Caldentay's head met Kelly's ball and was there to coolly oversee Misa Rodriguez.
Hour Mark and Arsenal took the lead for the first time when Mark and Arsenal led the tie and McCabe's free kick nodded to Steph Catley and was swept by Russo. The turnaround was notable and worthy of it, and the Emirates crowd was delighted with every touch, turn and pass.
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After a 13-minute blitz and the Spanish side were unable to cope with the unrelenting pressure, the gunners didn't take their feet off the gas. Olga Carmona only joined Arsenal from Manchester City at the end of January, and ran in tatters to Kelly, who appeared again.
Gunner thought Russo had been rewarded for that job past the 70-minute mark when he slotted Frida Maanum's ball in Rodriguez in the past, but was revoked after a VAR check for the narrowest offside after a fierce celebration of the hat-trick.
Beth Mead and Lia Walti replaced Kelly and Maanum when the clock was engraved, but a few minutes later, exhausted Carmona was stripped off as one of three changes.
Russo was denied a hat-trick in the remaining two minutes and was judged offside again after passing the Spanish goalkeeper for the fourth time. The frustration the forward may have felt was settled appropriately by the victory. This is a ferocious and loudly celebrated victory, with fans more than filling the 60,000-seater stadium with noise. Montemuro's semi-finals against Lyon are on the verge of anticipation, with the French giants taking a 6-1 total victory over Bayern Munich. These fixtures will be played over the past two weeks in April.
