Arsenal Women despite their Champions League exit are paving the way for the sport. Even though the Gunners lost the game, they really put on a display. As people wearing red and white shirts bearing the names of people like Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson, among others, shuffled joyfully towards Emirates Stadium, the magnitude of the event could be felt for miles around north London. In front of a large crowd at the stadium where their men’s team plays, Arsenal Women had never previously been the featured act. However, they took center stage on a comfortingly warm May bank holiday afternoon with the sweet scent of spring in the air, as if they were already familiar with the slang.
Arsenal triumphed in the situation and showed how, ten years after drawing only 1,400 spectators to a match against the same opponents in 2013, the landscape of women’s football has irrevocably transformed. Turnstiles A-Z was jam-packed, nearby tube stations were filled to capacity, tens of thousands of eager spectators lined the path to the stadium, and lines could be observed at every program vendor and concession stand. The side of Jonas Eidevall had won them over. They came to see Arsenal Women. It is a coming-of-age tale unlike any other, and Arsenal, England’s oldest and most successful women’s team, had to be the one to pioneer the way. A stunning sight to witness was the over 60,000 attendance record.
Fans stayed to applaud Arsenal’s players for the drama and danger, for the joy and entertainment; there was neither abjectness nor apathy. The celebration’s jubilation took the stage. In place of Kim Little and Constable Williamson who were wounded, Katie McCabe led the lap of appreciation. Mutual feelings existed. As they had done throughout a valiant 90 minutes of football, fans applauded and cheered.
Despite losing the conflict, Arsenal won the battle. Any logical argument would suggest that the Gunners had already surpassed themselves. They have suffered injuries to Miedema, Beth Mead, Little, and most recently Williamson, four of their most crucial players. Arsenal’s creative spark Caitlin Foord was also disqualified. The chances were not in my favor. Unfazed, Eidevall’s team continued playing, keen to prove they were deserving of the first Emirates sell-out. So it turned out after 11 minutes when Blackstenius sprinted onto Lia Walti’s hopeful pass, coming in second to get there but motivated by the energy coming from the crowd. She dodged Merle Frohms’ approaches, resisted Kathrin Hendrich’s efforts, and rolled the ball into an open net. It erupted in the stadium.
Given Arsenal’s situation, that particular moment could have been enough to satisfy, but there was still an opportunity for more. Despite former Gunner Jill Roord’s best efforts to calm the fans with a leveler just before halftime, the crowded bleachers could sense it. In actuality, her assistance simply boosted enthusiasm among viewers, who now had a pantomime antagonist to focus their lighthearted anguish on. Similarly ineffective was Alexandra Popp’s deft near-post header in the second period. Wolfsburg was proving why they are two-time European champions and why they advanced to the Champions League final in 2016, 2018, and 2020. They were a team with a lot of pedigree. The only other time Arsenal made a similar showing was in 2007. But on this historic night, antiquity was unimportant.
The lead part was ideal for Jen Beattie. a mainstay of Arsenal. With 15 minutes left, Beattie rose highest to head Lotte Wubben-Moy’s skillful cross into the corner of Frohms’ net in the most improbable of pairings – center-half to center-half. She poleaxed Popp, the captain of Wolfsburg, as she spun off in joy. Although entirely unintentional, the incident served as a metaphor for Arsenal’s drive. They weren’t there to participate; they were there to compete, and they would crush anyone who tried to convince them otherwise.
Eidevall, who remained standing the whole frantic second half, almost saw his team accomplish the almost unthinkable. The game fluctuated and was finally determined by a terrible twist of destiny in the dying embers as a result of the rise and fall that sent shockwaves and vibrations through the stands. Wubben-Moy was defrauded, and replacement Pauline Bremer was perfectly placed to profit. Arsenal’s chances of qualifying for Europe are now all but finished. The faces of both the countless players who were made to miss out as well as the 11 players who finished the game were inscribed with impending grief. Williamson, a former cheerleader who now comforts teammates, was observed doing so. No happily ever after.
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