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Halftime: Benfica 0-0 Arsenal
Stalemate in Lisbon. Arsenal were kept at bay by an extremely hard-working Benfica, who defended as if a clean sheet depended on it. Whether they can maintain that defensive intensity for another half remains to be seen.
45 minutes Two minutes extra time. Smith waves her arms, a symbol of Arsenal’s growing frustration. They had the most possession (about 70 percent), but Benfica came closest to scoring.
41 min: Great save from Van Domselaar!
Gasper’s deep free kick from the left is met by Diana Gomes, who shoots a beautifully timed header towards goal from twelve meters. Van Domselaar flies to the left and pushes him around the post. That’s an excellent save.
38 minutes Moller hits the ball off Wubben-Moy and behind it for a… goal kick to Arsenal. Benfica are understandably frustrated as it should have been a corner.
36 minutes This time Mead does manage to cut inside Amado to create a shooting opportunity, but Ucheibe flies across to make her second important block of the half.
32 mins I thought the game was opening; I’m not sure if that is the case. Arsenal must be patient: Benfica are working so hard defensively and will struggle to keep that up for 100 minutes.
30 minutes The resulting corner is swung past the far post by Cooney-Cross. It is met by Wubben-Moy, whose downward header goes a few yards wide. Not a bad chance.
29 mins Mead is found in a patch of space on the left side of the area. She tries to shoot and then tries to come back in on her right foot; Amado reads it and makes an important tackle.
25 minutes Smith taps the ball off the toes of a Benfica defender, moves to the edge of the area and sweeps a shot that is well blocked by the lunging Ucheibe. It feels like the game is slowly starting to open up.
23 minutes Diana Silva beats Arsenal’s offside trap, runs on a long pass across the pitch from left to right, and curls a shot from a tight angle that Van Domselaar comfortably holds at the near post.
21 minutes A deflected cross from Caldentey is poorly spilled by Pauels, who turns up relieved to catch the loose ball for Mead.
18 minutes Mead curls a free kick from 25 yards onto the roof of the net. A good effort, although goalkeeper Lena Pauels had it done.
15 minutes There is virtually nothing to report. It’s not a bad game at all; there simply wasn’t a single incident.
11 minutes The match has become more even – and a little shabbier – after a very confident start from Arsenal. Still no shots on target from either side.
8 minutes And nothing comes of it. In any case, Benfica is enjoying his first longer period in the Arsenal half.
6 mins Nothing comes from Arsenal’s corner – and then Smith concedes one at the other end with an overhit pass back to Van Domselaar.
4 minutes No significant chances, but Arsenal have started very well. Smith’s cross is turned back for the first corner of the match…
1 min Beep beep! We are on the road in Lisbon and Arsenal are already passing the ball around with confidence.
“Some things we like about the Arsenal setup, but also some things to worry about,” says Charles Antaki, inadvertently capturing the emotional disposition of the association football fan. “Good to see Taylor Hinds from the start; she’s less, um, combative than Katie McCabe, but it seems like she has more spunk about her at the moment. Kyra Cooney-Cross in midfield will please many fans who want a little more spice in that area. I am of course happy to see Lotte Wubben-Moy back in; but it just underlines the fact that Leah Williamson is still very much absent and sorely missed. And at the back of it all is the crisis murmur. So please, a convincing victory.”
Full-time: Atletico Madrid 0-1 Man Utd
As the players line up for the anthems in Lisbon, a quick note on a very hard-fought win for Manchester United in Madrid. Yara El-Shaboury has more.
Renee Slegers’ pre-match thoughts
[On returning to Lisbon] They are great memories – we are staying in the same hotel – but we are starting from scratch and are very focused on the here and now.
[On her team selection] We played a lot of games in this block. There are always many things that play a role in the decisions, but the most important thing is the quality we have in the team.
For us, every game is a must-win, that’s how we see it. We have great belief in who we are and what we do. We are looking forward to tonight.
Informative, passionate, entertaining. But enough about me and my prose, that is also the slogan of Moving the Goalposts, our weekly women’s football newsletter. Here is the latest edition.
Manchester Unitedwhich had only ten players since before halftime, leads 1-0 against Atletico in Madrid. You can follow the last quarter of that match with Yara El-Shaboury.
Team news
Four changes for Arsenal after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Brighton. Lotte Wubben-Moy, Taylor Hinds, Kyra Cooney Cross And Beth Mead replacing Katie Reid, who is injured, Katie McCabe, Frida Maanum and Caitlin Foord.
The Benfica team includes Carolina Tristaowho made her full-length debut at the age of sixteen.
Benfica (possibly 4-3-3) Pauls; Amado, Gomes, Ucheibe, Lund; Tristao, Cameirao, Gasper; Alves, Diana Silva, Moller.
Subs: Rute Costa, Prat, Joana Silva, Martin-Prieto, Almeida, Carole Costa, Engesvik, Martins, Pauleta, Davidson, Boeckmann, Guedes.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Van Domselaar; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Hinds; Klein, Cooney-Cross; Smith, Caldentey, Mead; Russian.
Subs: Codina, McCabe, Maanum, Kelly, Foord, Pelova, Nighswonger, Blackstenius, Harwood, Liddiard.
Referee Miriam Bockova (Slovakia).
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live minute-by-minute coverage of Benfica vs Arsenal in the WCL. Arsenal’s Champions League defense got off to a false start last week with a 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon; and while it’s too early to talk about must-win games, they’ll be keen to get going tonight at Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade – the ground on which they beat Barcelona in last season’s final.
It won’t be easy against a Benfica team that has won five Portuguese titles in a row. This season they also started the competition with a 2-1 defeat, in their case against Juventus. But unlike Arsenal, Benfica doesn’t have much experience in this tournament – at least not yet. Their best run, two seasons ago, ended with a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Lyon in the quarter-finals.
Benfica, and Portuguese football in general, will want to make a dent in the competition as quickly as possible. A victory over the reigning champion would be a good starting point.
Kick-off 8 p.m
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