Arsenal v OL Lyonnes: Women’s Champions League – as it happened

Suzanne Wrack is on the scene for us at Meadow Park, and here is her match report:

Related: Arsenal begin WCL defence with wobble after Dumornay double for OL Lyonnes

That’s the lot from me, thanks a lot for reading and emailing in. Take care of yourselves – and each other.

Two-goal Melchie Dumornay, via an interpreter, has a chat with Alex Scott on Disney+. “It was a tough match. It’s important to win our first game away from home. But it’s a long competition and we have to keep improving as we go.

“Of course we were motivated to put things right after last season … we put everything into it, and got the result.

“We are among the favourites [for the Women’s Champions League]. There are lots of good teams. We need to keep working hard and improving on the pitch, because that’s what matters.”

“Not the result we wanted,” says Arsenal’s captain Kim Little, speaking to Disney+.

“But there were positives to take, especially after our previous performances in the league. We made mistakes but we showed resilience to stick in it to the end.

“We keep going, we keep working together. We know it can’t be perfect all the time. We’ll come back stronger. We’ve got such quality in this team, as we’ve shown on many occasions.

“It’s a different format … with that comes a cup final every match.”

Dumornay’s double was enough. Arsenal started brightly, and opened the scoring with a lovely early goal by Russo, created by Mead. But overall Lyonnes were the more accomplished team. They capitalised on two defensive mistakes by Slegers’ side but they could have scored a few more on another night.

Lyonnes completed 361 passes to 272 for Arsenal, and had 54% possession. Van Domselaar made nine saves, Endler four. We knew heading into tonight that Arsenal were struggling defensively, and Slegers still has work to do there. And, of course, she needs Leah Williamson back fit ASAP.

90 min +4: McCabe pumps a free-kick into the Lyonnes box. It drops to Foord, who cracks a right-footed shot narrowly wide of the post! There are also some appeals for a handball, and it seems that VAR has a look, but nothing doing in terms of a penalty.

90 min +3: The free-kick is clipped to the far post. Van Domselaar claims.

90 min + 1: Brand is fouled by Smith now, with Lyonnes pressing forward again. A very handy attacking set-piece for the visitors to come, and not where Arsenal need to be if they are going to snatch something.

89 min: Johannes fouls Smith. Arsenal would hope to be laying siege to the Lyon goal, at least, but they can’t really get a foothold or exert any sustained pressure.

We’ll have a minimum of six minutes added time. The Arsenal fans are still trying to motivate their team to produce something, a high note to end on.

87 min: Cooney-Cross gets her foot on it in an advanced position and looks to slide a pass in behind. The Lyonnes defending is uncompromising, though.

86 min: Katie McCabe on for Arsenal now, a last throw of the dice by Slegers. Taylor Hinds off.

83 min: Hegerberg makes her presence felt in the middle, trying to head in a very tidy cross by Johannes from the Lyonnes left.

Maanum goes in the book, now, for a late challenge on Bacha. That was definitely a naughty one, after the ball had gone, but Bacha also made the most of it.

82 min: Dumornay, quite understandably, fancies this hat-trick and has another crack. Van Domselaar is equal to it.

80 min: Another 10 minutes for Arsenal to get a point … get a win … get something? In truth, Lyonnes have looked by far more likely to add to their lead, if anything, and they’ve brought plenty of power off the bench.

78 min: The rangy figure of Tarciane goes into the book for what looked like a deliberate handball. The Brazil international protests, but don’t they always?

76 min: Ada Hegerberg joins the fray for Lyonnes, Katoto going off, and Lily Yohannes also joins the action for Korbin Shrader.

Lyonnes have frightening depth. They made nine changes for tonight, and are four out of four in the domestic league.

75 min: Kadidiatou Diani cracks a powerful rising shot from the edge of the area. It’s straight at Van Domselaar, though.

Caldentey is brought off by Slegers, Kyra Cooney-Cross replacing her. Stina Blackstenius also comes on for Arsenal’s goalscorer Russo.

73 min: Earlier, Charles Antaki emailed: “In this Champions League format an early defeat doesn’t matter, right?”

The format means any defeat, even a home defeat, is far from terminal. But I think that will be furthest from the minds of Arsenal’s players. They need a result and threw away a lead with a couple of errors. Still, they have time to get something from this.

70 min: It seems there is a chance for Arsenal to break, but Bacha has other ideas, intercepting a pass in midfield and embarking on a brilliant darting run from left to right. It all ends with more desperate defending to do for Arsenal.

67 min: Emma Hayes is pictured in the crowd. There is time for the TV director to focus on her because Liana Joseph, who just came on for her Champions League debut for Lyonnes, has been taken off injured, looking in considerable pain.

Changes for Lyonnes: Damaris Egurrola on for Lindsey Heaps, Jule Brand on for Joseph, who previously came on for Chawinga.

64 min: Nearly 3-1! Katoto is teed up by Dumornay, who again makes inroads on the Lyonnes right and gets in behind the defence. The France international striker pokes a shot looking for the near corner, meeting a sweetly-struck low cross, and it flashes just wide!

60 min: Chawinga dances into the Arsenal penalty area and tries to slide a low shot, left-footed, back to the far post. It’s well wide and the home crowd jeers – but it’s more evidence that Lyonnes are firmly in control of this match.

57 min: Again Dumornay threatens. Lyonnes build a decent attack and the Haiti international, who has already scored twice, thunders a right-footed shot from distance looking for her hat-trick. It’s blocked almost at source by an Arsenal body, though.

56 min: Slegers changes it up. Caitlin Foord on for Chloe Kelly, Olivia Smith on for Beth Mead.

53 min: Bacha is released on the Lyonnes left by a tremendous searching pass from midfield, diagonally from right to left. The full-back races into acres of space but Arsenal manage to deal with her low ball across. Still not convincing.

Now Caldentey belts a shot from the edge of the area, at the other end, tipped over by Endler.

52 min: The Arsenal fans are still in fine voice. The intensity of the match drops slightly after a full-on first half.

49 min: Truth is, Arsenal were the better side for the first 15 minutes when they played some excellent possession football, but their confidence is visibly depleted. Having ceded the initiative to Lyonnes with a couple of howlers, they don’t look to have the tools to take it back at the moment.

48 min: Arsenal create the first opening of the second half. A set-piece causes some panic in the visitors’ defence but they manage to clear their lines.

Some half-time reading/listening, starting with Suzanne Wrack on the new Women’s Champions League format:

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Related: The WSL title race bursts into life – Women’s Football Weekly

Related: WSL talking points: Spurs take a stand and Arsenal sufffer set-piece woes

45 min: One minute added, minimum.

43 min: Big double save by Van Domselaar! Chawinga and then Katoto both strike for goal after a cross from the right wing. Neither really get hold of their efforts and Van Domselaar can save, twice. Still it’s Lyonnes making all the running.

42 min: And now a header from Katoto is saved by Van Domselaar. Worrying signs for Slegers’ side after an encouraging opening.

41 min: Now it seems as if Arsenal’s defenders back off too much, and allow space for Tabitha Chawinga to belt a powerful shot fractionally wide of a post with Van Domselaar beaten.

39 min: Arsenal don’t look comfortable defensively, which is a recurring theme of the season. Dumornay curls a dangerous cross over from the Lyonnes right, and Arsenal clear it by hook or by crook.

35 min: The good news for Arsenal is they haven’t gifted a goal to their opponents for a little while now. Mead goes in the book for clashing with Tarciane.

Mead is currently personifying that old maxim: If you’re not interfering with play, what are you doing on the pitch? She’s having a great game, despite the scoreline.

31 min: “I am “watching” your page from New Zealand,” emails Zuni.

“Good morning. Come on Arsenal! I used to live round the corner from the old stadium.”

Highbury? Those were the days.

30 min: Can Lyonnes do it on a warm October night in north London? The answer is a resounding yes, thus far, although Arsenal have been the architects of their own downfall.

28 min: Mead, again, is moving things forwards for the Gunners and now she tries to slip a pass to an on-rushing Caldentey. But a Lyonnes body gets in the way.

25 min: Endler does well to beat out a deflected shot by Caldentey for Arsenal.

21 min: Mead is in the thick of it again for Arsenal. She exchanges passes with a teammate and buys the space for a shot, right-footed, from the edge of the area. It’s on target but lacks the power to test Endler.

17 min: Russo makes a dart down the right wing. Bacha does well to cover the danger and clear for a throw. “The Arsenal” remain on the front foot, and the crowd are showing their appreciation.

15 min: Arsenal have certainly been the better side. They’ve shown good composure on the ball and thus far, Slegers’ selection has paid off. Can they create a bit of daylight on the scoreboard, though?

11 min: Selma Bacha has a shot blocked for Lyonnes on the edge. A corner results, taken by Bacha herself, and then another from the opposite side of the pitch. Dumornay shoots from the edge of the box this time, from the second corner, but it’s always wide of the target.

Mead was in a forest of bodies on the edge of the box. She battled her way past one challenge, maybe two, and then tucked a smart little diagonal ball to her teammate Russo. The England striker needed no second invitation to bury a clinical finish low into the corner, with no chance for Christiane Endler in goal. A top, top finish and well created by Mead. Just the start that Arsenal Women were hoping for.

5 min: Catley is fouled on halfway, in front of the benches, by Marie-Antoinette Katoto. That is a very clumsy challenge with studs showing and I’ve seen red cards given for less, or certainly similar. It’s a yellow card. The Arsenal Women staff aren’t happy.

3 min: After the Gunners enjoy a decent bit of the ball to begin with, Melchie Dumornay fires a dangerous low ball across from the right wing for Lyonnes.

2 min: Arsenal enjoy an early spell of possession, playing a few decent triangles here and there, and getting a welcome feel of the ball at their feet early on.

Arsenal huddle. They need a result, don’t they?

Under five minutes until kick-off. The home fans are in fine voice as the teams make their way on to the Meadow Park pitch. OL Lyonnes, by the way, have won the Women’s Champions League / European Cup a record eight times. It might be the first day of the competition, but this is massive.

Speaking of the Arsenal head coach Slegers, she’s just had a chat with Disney Plus, with the estimable Alex Scott on presenting and reporting duty:

“We always have high expectations on ourselves,” Slegers says. “But other teams will look at us differently [as champions] and we have to be ready for that.”

Is a European tie a nice break from indifferent domestic form? “We want to play games. This is another short turnaround. Everything starts over again. Last year doesn’t mean anything but there is inspiration from what we did.”

“Lyon have a lot of quality, a lot of pace - it will be a hard game but hopefully we can cause them problems.”

We’ve got a fresh hit of the Women’s Football Weekly podcast right here.

The panel asks whether Manchester City’s 3‑2 win over Arsenal is the clearest sign yet that Andrée Jeglertz’s side believe they can go all the way, and what Renée Slegers must do to arrest Arsenal’s faltering form.

Related: The WSL title race bursts into life – Women’s Football Weekly

“It’s hard not to agree wholeheartedly with Jeremy Boyce,” writes Charles Antaki.

“There’s something regal about Leah Williamson’s presence that transmits the composure that’s been lacking at crucial moments this term (see: last minutes of Villa game; last minutes of Man City game).

“As her replacement in the back line, Katie Reid is a wonderful prospect, but still raw. But really the whole team, with the honourable exception of Emily Fox, has looked tepid and tame in the WSL. The Champions League should fire them up. Hopefully.”

“I think it’s fairly clear to see that Arsenal are struggling defensively without their Captain/Leader/Legend, the magnificent Leah Williamson,” emails Jeremy Boyce.

“They have a great squad of quality players, but sometimes when you lose a key element in a key position it can be difficult. See Gordon Banks/Peter Bonnetti, World Cup quarter-final 1970.

“League, Schmeague, they didn’t win it last year either, but they won the big one and the whole squad stepped up when it counted. Don’t go writing them off just yet …”

The Women’s Champions League has a new format this season. Uefa insist that it is “exciting”.

It’s a “Swiss” system as now seen in the men’s competition: an 18-team league phase, when each team plays six matches, three home and three away.

The top four qualify for the quarter-finals, while those sides placed 7th to 12th will play two-legged playoff ties to try and make it into the last eight. The sides ranked 13th and below are eliminated.

Arsenal’s fixtures in the exciting new format are as follows:

• 7 October (8pm) v Lyon (H)

• 16 October (8pm) v Benfica (A)

• 12 November (5.45pm) v Bayern Munich (A)

• 19 November 19 v Real Madrid (H)

• 9 December 9 v Twente (H)

• 17 December (8pm) v OH Leuven (A)