Impetus’ Rebecca Hall has been in Linköping for Arsenal’s Champions League qualifying campaign all week. For her final dispatch, she hears the conflicting emotions of players and coaches in both camps after Paris FC’s sensational win over the North London side (10/9/23).
Above: Joy for Paris FC after they send Arsenal crashing out of the Champions League on penalties. Photo: Paris FC Feminines.
Arsenal’s Champions League hopes are over at this early stage after Paris FC ran out winners in a penalty shoot-out after Jonas Eidevall’s side managed to come back from 2-0 defecit.
Putting on a physical display, Paris FC took the game by storm in the second half by scoring two goals within one minute of each other. Both goals came from Mathilde Bourdieu.
Arsenal fought back, as new signing, Alessia Russo, scored her first goal for the club. This was followed by Jennifer Beattie grabbing a last-gasp leveller in the 96th minute, which saw the game go to extra time. A goal was quickly produced by Louise Fleury in the 106th minute, but Russo answered in the 116th minute, taking the game to penalties. The tense game saw Paris FC win 4-2 against the English heavyweights.
After the game, Paris FC’s captain, Gaëtane Thiney, shared her joy “It’s amazing, football is amazing. I think we deserved it, we played very well and continued to believe in the victory. I am very happy, for me, but also the younger players… they will remember this all their life.”
Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall reflected on a painful outcome, saying: “It hurts a lot, because we had such a good experience in Europe last season, and we wanted to build on that.
“We also knew from the beginning this mini-tournament was going to be tough, for a number of reasons. One is the opposition; Paris is a good team. Another part is the really limited preparation time and playing on a 3G pitch, which we’re not really used to.
“I think there are good things and bad things in our performance today, I think we created enough chances to win the game if we just look at it objectively. We put ourselves in a really difficult situation.”
Eidevall commended his squad saying: “The players showed great determination, heart, belief. I’m really proud of the players that we could fight our way back, twice in the game. And then it comes to penalty shootout outs, and it is very small margins”. He carried on to say that his main thoughts are to “take care of the players that are working so hard for the club”.
The Arsenal boss also urged for wariness, “when you get the wrong result in football, it can create a lot of noise. But the reality is we are neither a better or worse team than we were last night” and that it is “natural” for “not everything to work seamlessly in the beginning”.
Arsenal will now look to focus on domestic trophies. Before the Women’s Super League begins on 1st October, the North London side travel to Adidas in Germany for a training camp which Jonas Eidevall described as a “really important four-day period”. Prior to the international break, Arsenal will face Chelsea in a friendly.
Teams: ARSENAL: Zinsberger, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Little, Maanum, Wälti, Maritz, Foord, Lacasse, Blackstenius. Substitutes: D’Angelo, Williams, Beattie (90’), Mead, McCabe (58’), Hurtig (58’), Queiroz, Pelova (58’), Kühl, Russo (58’), Lia.
Scorers: Russo 80′, 116′. Beattie 90+6.
PARIS FC: Nnadozie, Bogaert, Korošec, Bourdieu, Matéo, Dufour, Le Mouël, Thiney, Greboval, Sissoko, Soyer. Substitutes: Marques, Demarest Pouplet, Ould Hocine (94’), Hunter, Fleury (75’), Corboz (62’), Ndongla (105’), Ribadeira (75’), Abdullina (80’), Sidibe.
Scorers: Bourdieu 56′, 57′. Soyer 106′.
Referee: Kristina Georgieva (BUL).
Attendance: 1,411.
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