The 21-year-old Haitian striker left alone to break through the English defense (82e2-1) to snatch victory, four minutes after the English’s well-deserved equalizer.
Greatly accustomed to these summits, Olympique Lyonnais took a step towards an eighth final in ten seasons, but it is a small step far from being decisive, nor very convincing, given the lack of mastery displayed against the English.
“It’s not over yet,” warned coach Joe Montemurro. “It’s a dangerous scenario. And they’re a good team.”
Supported by 40,000 supporters at the Emirates, the Gunners pushed and dominated the second half until equalizing on a penalty scored by Mariona Caldentey (78e1-1).
The Spaniard, triple European champion with Barça, kept the suspense almost intact before the return leg, on April 27 in Lyon.
She carried out the sentence without trembling, with a perfect counterpoint, to punish one of the rare errors committed by Lyon goalkeeper Christiane Endler, at the origin of the penalty.
Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Mariona Caldentey scores on a penalty against Lyon, in London on April 19, 2025 in the Champions League. © JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
On a corner, the Chilean missed her aerial exit and hit Leah Williamson with her fist, a charge detected by the video assistance.
Fox hoped for return
Her partners will probably not overwhelm her because, without her, the fate of the match could have been very different.
Endler stood out with a courageous and decisive dive at the feet of Caitlin Foord (52e), with a kick in front of an opposing attacker (54e) and final intervention of the head (90e+6) just before the final whistle.
OL turned off the lights in the second half and largely endured the exchanges, seeming to rely on the advantage quickly acquired by Kadidiatou Diani (17e1-0).
The French striker put her teammates into orbit by taking advantage of a nice opening from Ellie Carpenter and, above all, a poor alignment from defender Emily Fox who covered the offside.
Lyon’s Haitian striker Melchie Dumornay celebrates after scoring the second goal during the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final first leg between Arsenal and Lyon, in London, April 19, 2025. © JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
The visitors had a very poor offensive spoils otherwise. Danielle Van de Donk missed an outright goal (6e) and Dumornay almost scored another with a nice long-range shot which failed on the crossbar (33e).
Conversely, Arsenal had chances in spades but with too much waste in front of goal. Frida Maanum (29e), Beth Mead (58e) and Frida Maanum (61e) all three missed their heads.
This is both a relief for OL, but also cause for concern before returning home.
“We will go there believing that we can do something,” projected Arsenal coach Renée Slegers.
The Lyonnaises, 2022 European champions and finalists in 2024, could register between now and then the reinforcement of Wendie Renard, unavailable on Saturday due to muscular discomfort.
“To be honest, I hope so,” Montemurro said in a post-match conference. But in the meantime, “it was probably too risky (to play) today.”
With AFP
