Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Paris FC in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday night, after a mix-up between goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez and centre-back Leah Williamson gifted the hosts a penalty. The result leaves Arsenal with five points from their opening four games.
Manager absent after frustrating draw
Renée Slegers did not attend the post-match press conference, with the manager understood to have been too furious after the result. Assistant coach Aaron D'Antino stepped in to speak to the media instead.
“The most frustrating part is how much we are working behind the scenes to try and turn this around, and it is just not going our way at the moment,” D’Antino said.
Arsenal's early dominance fades
Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway had given Arsenal a two-goal lead, but Clara Mateo pulled one back before Williamson handled the ball after the referee deemed play to have restarted from a goal-kick when Rodríguez passed it to her.
D’Antino said: “If we’re looking at what we can control, it’s just passing the ball to Leah. From what I remember seeing, the ball was still rolling and she was moving it to Leah for her to take the goal-kicks as we normally do. So maybe the learning in that is how we get the ball to Leah, so we don’t put ourselves in that situation. But as far as we’re concerned, that’s not a penalty … we haven’t taken a goal-kick, there’s no advantage gained by Leah stopping the ball.”
Costly mistakes and a decisive penalty
It had been a familiar story at the Stade Jean-Bouin, with Paris FC happy to concede possession and frustrate Arsenal. The Gunners took the lead when Stanway prodded the ball towards Russo, who took several touches to create space before firing a low effort in. Five minutes after the restart, Stanway doubled the lead with a stylish volley from close range after Emily Fox’s cross.
However, only 22 minutes of comfort followed before Paris FC pulled a goal back. A mix-up between centre-backs Lotte Wubben-Moy and Williamson allowed Evelyne Viens to slip the ball wide to Mateo, who rounded Rodríguez and slotted into the empty net.
The leveller came from the most calamitous of mistakes. Rodríguez collected the ball for a goal-kick, rolled it on to the pitch and passed to Williamson, who bent and stopped the ball with her hand. The referee pointed to the spot, with Rodríguez deemed to have taken the goal-kick while Williamson assumed she was being given the ball to take it. VAR did not intervene, and Maeline Mendy converted, driving powerfully into the bottom corner.
It was a bruising end to another bruising game for Arsenal, who face a must-win match against league leaders Manchester City on Sunday.
