Pauline Bremer scored in the 119th minute to help Wolfsburg produce one of the narrow football results of the midweek action in the Women’s Champions League. Deep into extra time, Pauline Bremer scored the game-winning goal to guarantee that the Frauen-Bundesliga team, who won titles in 2013 and 2014, will face strong favorites Barcelona for the chance to win the trophy for a third time on June 3 in Eindhoven. Stina Blackstenius altered the script after giving the Gunners the lead in the 11th minute. The match, which was already filled with drama, had already made headlines before to the game in expectation of a record attendance in north London, which was confirmed to be in excess of 60,000.
An enthusiastic crowd cheered on every pass and tackle during a historic night for women’s football, but they were ultimately unable to influence the outcome because goals from former Gunner Jill Roord (41) and Alexandra Popp (58) turned the second leg’s momentum irrevocably in Wolfsburg’s favor. A subsequent effort by Blackstenius was disallowed by VAR for a slight offside, adding to the agony. However, in the 75th minute, Jen Beattie gave the game some fleeting hope by converting on a skillful Lotte Wubben-Moy pass to force an unnecessary round of extra time.
The Gunners’ valiant attempts were, however, finally put to bed when, with the clock ticking down, Jule Brand stole the ball from a laboring Wubben-Moy and handed it to Bremer for an easy back-post goal. After losing their past three matches in 2016, 2018, and 2020, Wolfsburg will participate in their sixth European championship game.
When Roord, a former Arsenal midfielder, beat Manuela Zinsberger with a lovely long-range shot in the 41st minute to cancel out Blackstenius’ first goal, Wolfsburg’s fate in Europe seemed all but certain. Eidevall’s team had fought back from a 2-0 deficit to level the score going into the second leg, demonstrating that losses could be overcome. However, this last obstacle was one too many since Arsenal had never defeated their German opponents in a two-legged match. Before Beattie’s header at the other end briefly kept Arsenal in the match, the captain Popp rose highest to Felicitas Rauch’s in-swinging corner in the 58th minute to move the visitors closer to June’s final on her comeback from injury.
It required a strong tackle from Wubben-Moy to stop Ewa Pajor’s risky run at the edge of her own six-yard box. Wubben-Moy then provided the tease for Beattie to brilliantly glance past Merle Frohms, making the danger more and more appealing. Despite being under pressure for the majority of extra time, Arsenal mustered all of their resiliency to trouble their opponents. Katie McCabe rattled the crossbar shortly after Laura Wienroither joined the Gunners’ treatment room after being stretchered off clutching her knee after a twisting fall. Later, Lina Hurtig came dangerously close to forcing Frohms into a deft stooping save before Bremer dispatched a sickening settler in the 119th minute.
“There is no question that it is difficult because the game was played with such small margins. I believe it’s okay for us to be hurt and depleted. We may, however, also feel happy about the occasion and the performance. The brain is now processing a lot of emotions. You can invent a story after you know the outcome, but I prefer not to,” Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall said. “With all the ailments and difficulties we face, we as a team are in the Champions League semi-final and miss out on the final by the narrowest of margins. That is really amazing. I’m very happy. The job Mikel (Arteta) has been doing with our men’s squad is very amazing because of how they have worked together with the supporters and successfully turned around Emirates. We take a lesson from that and will apply it [on Monday].”
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