Lina Hurtig’s late poke-in ensured Arsenal secured a spot in the Champions League knockout stage with two group games remaining, a 1-0 win over Juventus enough to put them clear at the expense of the Italian club.
The Gunners needed a win to ensure progression to the quarter-finals after Bayern Munich’s 1-1 draw with Valerenga in Norway. Instead of the Group C standings being finely poised, Hurtig’s goal gave them the breathing room they so desperately wanted before they face Bayern at Meadow Park to very likely decide who tops the group.
“It’s the ultimate end to a very busy and intense block we have had,” said interim manager Renée Slegers. “It means a lot. All of the players totally deserve it. It gives us some breathing space in the last two games as well.”
Slegers’s side were unchanged from the team that earned a comfortable 3-0 win over Tottenham at the weekend, Katie McCabe pushing forward when the Gunners were in possession leaving Leah Williamson, Steph Catley and Emily Fox to operate as a back three. It has been a successful play for Arsenal in recent weeks, the extra attacking player helping them pick open stubborn defences, but Juventus had done their homework and frustrated them for 89 minutes.
There was no room for complacency despite the 4-0 defeat of Juventus in the reverse fixture the preceding week. It would be unfair to suggest that scoreline flattered Arsenal, but the game in Biella was far from easy. It took the Gunners until the 75th minute to get their second and put the game to bed, with Slegers saying that had taken a lot out of them “physically and psychologically”.
At a bitterly cold Emirates Stadium, there was frustration as congestion getting into the ground meant that some fans missed the first 15 minutes and arrived to find their seats taken. The club had to open another block in the lower tier to find space for them. It was not ideal, but is ultimately a teething problem as the club balances the varying crowd sizes for women’s fixtures at the ground and the right levels of staffing required.
Barcelona are all but through to the Women's Champions League quarter-finals after a 4-1 win over St Pölten in Vienna.
Two goals from Kika Nazareth, plus strikes from Vicky López and Alexia Putellas, ensured a dominant victory for the visitors, though the Austrian side nabbed a consolation via Valentina Mädl.
While Hammarby could still technically progress from Group D despite their 2-1 defeat to the frontrunners, Manchester City, they would need to beat Barça 10-0, having lost 9-0 in Catalonia in October.
Elsewhere, in Group C, Bayern Munich were held to a 1-1 draw by Vålerenga after Elise Thorsnes's late equaliser cancelled out Jovana Damnjanovic's opener.
The result represents a window of opportunity for Arsenal after their 1-0 win over Juventus. While Bayern still top the group, their lead has been cut to one point with two games left to play including, in December, a trip to Meadow Park.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on which way you look at it, they didn’t miss much. Arsenal have scored 19 goals in six games since Jonas Eidevall departed and Slegers was appointed as interim manager, before the visit of Juventus, but against the Italian club it was 24 minutes before the home team had their first convincing chance, Frida Maanum firing over from a tight angle.
Other moments of note? Arsenal centre-back Williamson taking a goalkick ahead of keeper Daphne van Domselaar. That was about it. Arsenal had dominated possession, having over 75% of the ball, but had just the one shot to show for it from the first half.
After the break, the story was similar, the home team struggling to break through the organised defensive line of the Italian side.
They would go agonisingly close just before the hour mark in quick succession. First, when Katie McCabe’s backheel found Mariona Caldentey and the Spaniard played it centrally to an unmarked Maanum, but she put her effort wide of the near post, the fans’ half-celebrations quelled as the ball hit the electronic hoardings. Then, when a goalmouth scramble saw Caitlin Foord have a shot blocked on the line.
Despite visibly tiring, the visiting team sensed they could snatch more than a point and Van Domselaar would be called into action for the first time with 15 minutes remaining, getting down to push away Arianna Caruso’s low effort towards the far corner. Substitute Hurtig twice had the vocal 9,963 crowd gasping, the second of her two headers flying over the bar from the six-yard line with the goal gaping and the keeper nowhere.
It felt like the odds were against them, but the Swede would be Arsenal’s saviour, poking fellow sub Stina Blackstenius’s cross off the foot of a defender and in, before she could clear, in the 89th minute to seal victory. There was relief in the celebrations. Slegers’ record remains close to unblemished, with six wins and a draw from seven matches. The Renéessance continues.
“It’s surreal to be honest,” said the manager. “I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well but I was part of Jonas [Eidevall’s] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don’t want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It’s surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.”
