A tough-fought victory over OH Leuven at Meadow Park despatched Arsenal by means of to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the place they’ll face Chelsea subsequent month. The guests examined Renée Slegers’s aspect when Sára Pusztai cancelled out Alessia Russo’s objective however a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and second from Russo secured the win, incomes them a cushty 7-1 mixture rating.
This was a disjointed efficiency from the hosts however it should have performed little to dampen the excessive spirits in north London.
Arsenal are a group stuffed with confidence proper now and this was their sixth win in a row. Slegers’s squad have proved loads over the previous few weeks, each to themselves and people on the skin, as they close to the tip of a taxing interval of video games.
Since getting back from the winter break, they’ve gained seven of their 9 fixtures (shedding only one) and featured in 5 completely different competitions. They’ve lifted the inaugural Champions Cup and now secured development to the final eight of the Ladies’s Champions League. It has been a month that may have examined them to their limits however one that may have given them perception that they will problem on a number of fronts.
Slegers and her gamers could have discovered loads about themselves. They’ve performed brilliantly at instances and confirmed their mettle at others; generally accused of not having the abdomen for a struggle, they’ve proven that they will dig in and discover methods to win. This resilience has been key over a five-week stretch that has seen them play each three or 4 days, adapt to rotation within the squad and cope with the contrasting types of soccer that their opponents have dropped at the desk.
“We’ve discovered that we’ve so many gamers in good type and so many who can carry out for us in several roles as nicely,” Slegers mentioned. “One instance is Victoria Pelova who performed within the 6 in the beginning of this sport and completed on the suitable. Then the entire sum of its elements turns into actually good. That’s the standout for me.”
They had been all the time anticipated to return by means of this playoff unscathed. The mismatch in sources and expertise between the present holders and the plucky newcomers was clear to see from the outset, significantly since they’d already crushed them comfortably within the league part again in December.
The Sweden worldwide has been in wonderful type this season however a knee damage means she can be very more likely to miss the quarter-finals towards Bayern Munich, if Manchester United had been to progress previous Atlético. United lead 3-0 from the primary leg.
“There’s a bit of little bit of a tidy up that must be performed round her meniscus,” mentioned Skinner, who’s hoping that Sandberg will return for the final “three or 4 video games” of the season, including: “She will probably be round 4 to 6 to eight weeks, that is the timeframe we have been given. Greatest is 4, center is six. Clearly worst case is eight.
“We’re hopeful we are able to get it to 6 [weeks]. However we can’t take any dangers. She’s a younger participant so we’ll be certain that she’s rehabbed successfully.”
Jayde Riviere and Fridolina Rolfö are additionally doubts for the go to of the Spanish aspect, whereas the England midfielder Ella Toone is “doing rather well” however stays sidelined with a hip damage. Skinner mentioned the membership are aiming to welcome Toone again in time for March’s native derby towards the Ladies’s Tremendous League leaders Manchester Metropolis. Tom Garry
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Manchester United’s Sandberg sidelined by knee damage
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Manchester United will probably be with out the left-back Anna Sandberg for something between 4 and eight weeks, the United head coach Marc Skinner has revealed, earlier than the second leg of their Ladies’s Champions League knockout playoff tie towards Atlético Madrid on Thursday.
The Sweden worldwide has been in wonderful type this season however a knee damage means she can be very more likely to miss the quarter-finals towards Bayern Munich, if Manchester United had been to progress previous Atlético. United lead 3-0 from the primary leg.
“There’s a bit of little bit of a tidy up that must be performed round her meniscus,” mentioned Skinner, who’s hoping that Sandberg will return for the final “three or 4 video games” of the season, including: “She will probably be round 4 to 6 to eight weeks, that is the timeframe we have been given. Greatest is 4, center is six. Clearly worst case is eight.
“We’re hopeful we are able to get it to 6 [weeks]. However we can’t take any dangers. She’s a younger participant so we’ll be certain that she’s rehabbed successfully.”
Jayde Riviere and Fridolina Rolfö are additionally doubts for the go to of the Spanish aspect, whereas the England midfielder Ella Toone is “doing rather well” however stays sidelined with a hip damage. Skinner mentioned the membership are aiming to welcome Toone again in time for March’s native derby towards the Ladies’s Tremendous League leaders Manchester Metropolis. Tom Garry
That’s maybe the one flaw of this reimagined Champions League – with simply 18 groups that includes within the league part, the likelihood is that the eight groups who must undergo the playoffs should meet for a second time. It led to a much less engaging set of video games than there maybe might have been for the 2 English sides concerned.
This tie was virtually over after the away leg however the indicators of complacency that crept in on this event could have annoyed Slegers. Regardless of Russo’s early objective placing the host forward, Leuven challenged a disjointed Arsenal defence and located a deserved equaliser by means of Pusztai.
The context for Arsenal’s points on this event had been key. The situations in Borehamwood had been atrocious. The incessant rainfall made for a really heavy pitch. Issues improved after the break as Arsenal regained the lead because of a quintessential penalty conversion from Caldentey.
It took the sting out of Leuven’s tail and Russo added one other as the sport got here to an in depth.
Half of the defensive unit was modified with Lotte Wubben-Moy and Smilla Holmberg coming in and there was an absence of communication which maybe defined why they had been being caught out by the tempo of the Leuven attackers.
It noticed the Gunners cruise by means of a hotly anticipated encounter towards their London rivals.
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