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Arsenal v OL Lyonnes: Women’s Champions League semi-final, first leg – live | Women’s Champions League
Key events
20 mins: That was all a bit rubbish from Arsenal. This is a Champions League semi-final and they have given the opener away.
It is very early in this two-legged tie, so no need to panic.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Lyon (Brand, 18)
Far too easy for Lyon as Arsenal lose possession in their own half and then Brand is allowed to walk through the defence, before reaching the box and finding the corner from 15 yards.
18 mins: Lyon get into a decent position but the cross from the right is a poor one, flying over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick.
16 mins: Arsenal build from the back thanks to some smart passing but McCabe’s pass is not read by Foord, allowing the ball to drift behind.
14 mins: Blackstenius uses her strength to turn Renard inside the box. The defender just about recovers, at the cost of a corner. Caldentey swings in into the front post but it is a poor corner, allowing for an easy clearance.
12 mins: A long ball over the top forces Endler to sprint out of her box and head clear. There is a half chance to shoot from about 50 yards but the option is declined.
10 mins: Both teams have settled quickly. Lyon are penalised for an offside, it wasn’t particularly tight because she was half a yard onside. We just need the officials to settle and we could be in for a decent game.
8 mins: Lyon make it into the Arsenal box and just before Hegerberg can get a shot away, Fox puts in a tackle and earns a goal kick thanks to a ricochet.
6 mins: Arsenal are enjoying a good spell of possession but Russo cannot find a pass through the Lyon defence.
Another attack builds and concludes with Foord dragging a shot wide from inside the box.
4 mins: Lyon put on some pressure but Arsenal break up field through Fox but the attack comes to an end when Smith is tackled.
2 mins: Not much happening in the opening stages.
Gordon emails: “For me, Lyon will take this semi final. They will not gift Arsenal three goals over the tie as they did in last year’s semi- finals. Also, Arsenal are fortunate to have McCabe playing today; she should, of course, have been sent off for a hairpull against Chelsea in the last round, and be suspended for this match. Bayern Munich player Kett was red-carded for a hairpull yesterday in the other semi, and she’s suspended from the second leg v Barcelona.”
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
No Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly on the bench for Arsenal, leaving the bench looking quite light.
Renee Slegers: “We had really good collaboration with England, she was ready for 45 mins against Iceland, she did really good and came back ready. I am really happy she is available today.
“It will never be easy in a semi-final of the Champions League. I have huge respect for Lyon. We want to embrace this moment and give it everything we have.”
Jonatan Giraldez: “We know we have to do a lot of good things.
“I love the pressure, it is the energy I need to move forward. I am very honoured to have possibilities like this.”
It is a huge boost for the Gunners to have Williamson back in the heart of defence. Could this be the inspiration they need to beat Lyon at home for the first time?
A lovely day for a semi-final.
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Pre-match reading.
Starting lineups
Arsenal (4-3-3): Van Domselaar; Fox, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, McCabe; Russo, Little, Caldentay; Smith, Blackstenius, Foord
Subs: Votikova, Borbe, Laia Codina, Maanum, Pelova, Hinds, Holmberg, Harwood
Lyon: Endler; Lawrence, Renard, Engen, Svava; Shrader, Heaps, Yohannes; Diani, Hegerberg, Brand
Subs: Belhadj, Bacha, Junttila Nelhage, Dumornay, Becho, Katoto, Egurrola, Fathallah, Sombath, Chawinga, Benyahia, Tarciane
Referee: Desiree Blanco (Sui)
Preamble
It is the holders versus the competition’s most successful side, making this a rather exciting prospect for all involved. With the prospect of chasing down Manchester City in the WSL, this looks like the Gunners’ most likely source of silverware this season. Lyon have already been victorious at Arsenal this season, defeating them at Borehamwood in the league phase but the Emirates should provide a different prospect for the French side for a team who are 14 points clear in Ligue Feminine and are yet to lose in any competition all season.
The Gunners have not lost in the league since October and eliminated Chelsea in the last round of the Champions League, so will be unperturbed by the reputation of the visitors. It should make for a cracker!
Kick-off: 3.30pm BST
The King is “being kept fully informed of developments” after the shooting, Buckingham Palace says.
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Everton v Chelsea in WSL, Championship, Scottish Premiership and more – clockwatch | Football
Key events
WSL: London City are not finished yet as they score an almost identical goal to their third. Grace Geyoro is this time the happy recipient of the cutback and strokes it home for her first Lionesses goal. London City 4-1 Leicester. A first win since February incoming for the home side.
Scottish Premiership: Big, big thank you to Simon for a taste of some the fitba today. Some feels like a disservice for the Dundee derby. Consider yourself previewed people.
He writes, “Just rolled up at a packed Frews bar in Dundee, minutes from Tannadice where the final Dundee derby of the season kicks off at 2pm today. A win for United, for whom Jim Goodwin is now the longest serving manager since Jim McLean, having recently celebrated three years in charge, would see them well placed to finish top of the bottom six, and leave Dundee looking nervously over their shoulders. A fine day in the City of Discovery, match sold out, both sets of fans in fine fettle for now, three points, and bragging rights for the summer, up for grabs … Come on United!!!”
GOAL! Coventry 2-1 Wrexham
Striker! Coventry’s Victor Torp beats Danny Ward with an absolutely beautiful dipping free-kick. Not in the left corner but the keeper can’t handle the pace with which Torp steams it from flying over to cutting just under the bar. Gorgeous goal to take the lead.
Serie A: Fiorentina v Sassuolo finishes 0-0. Boooo. Or maybe wooo for fans of quintessential calcio?
Championship: Wrexham are going for this and bring on Nathan Broadhead and big Kieffer Moore. Perfect timing for a corner. They go back stick and win another corner that is again cleared easily by Coventry.
WSL: Oh dear. Everton fail to clear their lines and the ball bounces around the box until Erin Cuthbert says thank you very much right on the penalty spot and bangs it into the bottom left corner. 4-1 and out of sight.
Championship: Action at the other end now as Sam Smith has a one-on-one but Coventry’s Carl Rushworth makes a solid save. 1-1 but for how much longer?
Championship: Props to the Coventry fans making an absolute din at the Building Society Building. They might be a little proud and excited about Premier League action next season and who could blame them. Ooooh and Wrexham get a big let off after Dan Scarr gifts the ball to Milan van Ewijk in the box put a poor touch takes the ball out of play when he could have had a tap in.
WSL: Reportage from the fine Tom Garry at Goodison Park …
Chelsea are well on course to win this game now, 3-1 up thanks to Ellie Carpenter poking in from close range to add to Sam Kerr’s double. There has been significant controversy, though, as Kerr was denied what should have been a hat-trick as the officials did not see that her header had comfortably crossed the line, before being flicked away by Courtney Brosnan. Replays showed that Kerr’s header hit a post and bounced clearly over the line but it was not given. We do not have goalline technology in the WSL.
WSL: At London City a goal has quickly been disallowed only for the Lionesses to streak forward again and knock in the easiest of goals. Malou Marcetto taps in the cutback to make it 3-1 against Leicester. Tough for the Foxes who started brightly.
WSL: Chelsea open up Everton with ease and bag a third. Alyssa Thompson steams down the right and finds Ellie Carpenter wide open in the box. She strikes and a defender attempts a block but can only deflect the ball into the net. Blues cruise.
WSL: Chelsea strike quickly in the second half to take a 2-1 lead over Everton. Sam Kerr doubles up. Two chances, two goals. Perfect start after the break.
Thanks Will. Here we go then for some second-half WSL action and Coventry and Wrexham duking it out in the Championship. I have to declare some affiliation with the mighty Shrewsbury at this juncture. Zero bias of course just needed to be said. Moving swiftly on Kieffer Moore is warming up and will be keen to come on as Wrexham search for a win that would give them a juicy three point cushion to Hull outside of the playoffs.
Thanks for joining me. Graham Searles is with you for the next few hours. What an absolute treat for the optics.
Coventry and Wrexham are level, too.
Goodwin scores just before half time to put London City Lionesses ahead against Leicester.
Elsewhere …
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Tottenham 0-0 Man United
It remains goalless at Tottenham v Man United in the WSL, in case you were wondering.
A potentially big goal at the bottom of the WSL as Shannon O’Brien gives bottom-placed club Leicester the lead against London City Lionesses, who then go down the other end and equalise thanks to Lucia Corrales.
Wrexham are level! Ollie Rathbone, one of their shining stars this season, arrives late to finish a Kabore cross.
Tom Garry
Everton stunned Chelsea in December and they’re causing them problems again. Halfway through the first half it’s currently 1-1, thanks to Yuka Momiki’s long-range strike in the 10th minute having cancelled out Sam Kerr’s well-worked, early opener, which saw Kerr score for the fourth game in a row for club and country. Chelsea are on top but the home side are looking stubborn and disciplined at the back since drawing level. Chelsea can ill-afford to drop points here, in the race for European places.
A bit of a blow for Wrexham’s playoff hopes as Brandon Asante-Thomas gives Championship champions Coventry the lead.
It is already 1-1 in Everton v Chelsea in the WSL. Sam Kerr opened the scoring for the visitors before Yuka Momiki equalised for the Toffees.
Never have I experienced such scenes as those at the Crown Oil Arena, as one is supposed to call it. Had to do a good three rewrites in the space of 10 minutes and then the Wi-Fi broke down, so had to file the first bit on my phone. Glory days for all involved.
I was at Spotland for Rochdale v York yesterday, so I am hoping this work experience will be a lot calmer.
Thanks John. Good afternoon, one and all. What a lovely day for a bit of liveblogging and FA Cup buildup.
Time then to pass the reins to the estimable Mr Will Unwin.
Tom Garry
From Goodison Park.
After Manchester City’s defeat yesterday and with Arsenal busy in European action, the attention in the WSL today primarily turns to the battle for Women’s Champions League places and the pressure is on Chelsea this lunchtime. They have arrived here in sunny Merseyside with a two-point advantage over fourth-placed Manchester United, whom they will face on the final day of the season. Chelsea’s opponents today, Everton, were shock winners the last time these two sides met in the WSL in December, when the Toffees ended what was a 34-game unbeaten league run for Chelsea, so Sonia Bompastor’s team must not take them lightly today. Sam Kerr starts up front for the visitors here, as speculation around her future at Chelsea continues. Her contract expires this summer.
Elsewhere, it’s a potentially decisive day in WSL2 in the race for promotion to the top tier. Birmingham City will be all-but promoted if they can beat Ipswich Town (14:00 kick-off) and they would definitely be promoted if they better Crystal Palace’s result. Charlton, in second place, can also be promoted today if Palace slip up. At the other end of table, Portsmouth desperately need a result at home to Nottingham Forest to try and avoid relegation.
News from Jeddah, via Associated Press
Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia successfully defended the AFC Champions League Elite crown after beating first-time finalist Machida Zelvia of Japan 1-0 on Saturday.
It took an extra-time goal from Saudi international striker Firas Al-Burikan to settle a bad-tempered final in front of 60,000 mainly Al-Ahli fans in Jeddah.
Al-Ahli played with 10 men for almost an hour but Machida was unable to make the advantage count.
“It’s amazing,” said Al-Ahli winger Riyad Mahrez, who won the Uefa Champions League with Manchester City in 2023. “It was difficult for us again. We like to make it difficult for ourselves. Ten against 11 is nearly impossible, I don’t know how we found the strength and the energy. … After the red card we stuck together, we fought more, we ran more until we scored.”
A shock result on Saturday in the WSL, and that opens up some possibilities. Four fixtures at midday, with Arsenal playing their Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea, the reigning WSL champions, could narrow the gap to six points on Sunday with a win over Everton. Arsenal, who also remain in contention for the title, may also now have a renewed sense of optimism with three games in hand.
Coventry v Wrexham teams:
Coventry: Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Onyeka, Grimes; Thomas-Asante, Eccles, Mason-Clark; Haji Wright. Subs: Wilson, Latibeaudiere, Woolfenden, Bidwell, Kesler-Hayden, Torp, Allen, Esse, Simms.
Wrexham: Ward; Hyam, Scarr, Doyle; Kabore, Dobson, James, Rathbone, Thomason; Windass, Smith. Subs: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Brunt, Cacace, Longman, O’Brien, Keillor-Dunn, Broadhead, Moore.
Give this commentary a listen if you can. An, er, interesting choice of metaphor here.
Radio highlight of the year? Coverage from the football radio stations Rasio 5 Live and Talk Sport on Rochdale versus York City. Utterly bonkers stuff. No wonder that the football journalists sounded like they were going to pass out with excitement. Seeing Rochdale score after 5 minutes of extra time, to go into the football league automatically, and then see York City score after 13 minutes of extra time, giving them the automatic promotion instead, was deranged stuff.
Every person there, seeing two big explosions in short order, became modern versions of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business on 6th August 1945, suffered burns when he saw the first nuclear bomb, but went off to Nagasaki, just in time for 9th August’s second nuclear bomb. He lived until passing from stomach cancer in 2010, aged 93. Now that, THAT, was a man.
York City will probably mainly want Rochdale to get up anyway so they can share their experiences but, if not, a small part of them will think: “See? See? Don’t eff with us!”. I suffer long-term illness but, hearing this on the radio, made me grab my phone and text to explain to people what just happen and to make sure they look out for the coverage. Amazing stuff.
It’s already been a big weekend of European football.
Atlético Madrid first staged a comeback then survived one to beat Athletic Club 3-2. Aitor Paredes gave the Bilbao team the lead in the first half, then early in the second Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth overturned it. Sørloth thought he had made the game safe with his second in stoppage time, but Gorka Guruzeta scored in the 97th minute to set up a nervy finish.
Atlético held on, strengthening their grip on the final qualification spot for next year’s Champions League – but they are still in this year’s, and such a tense game was perhaps less than ideal before a semi-final first leg at home to Arsenal.
In Serie A later, it’s Turin v Milan, with Torino v Inter preceding Milan v Juventus.
Ligue 1 features the Derby de la Mediterranée, Marseille v Nice, with the home team hanging on to a Europa League spot, under Newcastle legend Habib Beye.
Perhaps the biggest game in La Liga is Osasuna v Sevilla, the latter in dire relegation trouble.
We await news of Salah’s injury, and that of Kai Havertz, and Xavi Simons, too. Their seasons may be over, and there are World Cup worries, too.
Relatively calm after Liverpool’s win, but sad after reading more about the injuries affecting Ekitiké, Alisson and Mo. Also deeply disappointed for Saints and a bit miffed for Wolves and Newcastle. Ah well, off to watch some Under-8s playing with joy, strict application of the rules, and no VAR. Handshakes all round!
The Championship promotion race is going to the wire. Southampton v Ipswich on Tuesday is massive. But before that, it’s Wrexham, in a play-off position after Hull’s defeat, being the guests at Coventry’s party.
Some transfer/HR news from Germany. Bayern Munich‘s director of sport, Max Eberl, has revealed that Jackson will be heading back to Chelsea when the loan agreement expires “We will not trigger the option for Nicolas Jackson.” The deal included an obligation to buy, worth £56.2million, if Jackson played at least 45 minutes of 40 matches. More problems for Chelsea, particularly after this farrago last summer.
The Champions League semi-finals are with us, and Bayern v PSG is the first of them on Tuesday. Jonathan Wilson runs the rule.
It probably is the case, as the critics claim, that Premier League teams are wasteful and far less efficient than their continental rivals. But it’s also true that once you get beyond the top couple of teams, every Premier League side is way stronger than its equivalent in any other league in the world, something seen in the domination of the Europa League and Europa Conference League. Aston Villa came sixth in the Premier League last season with revenues of £491m; sixth in France were Lyon with revenues of £141m and sixth in Germany were Mainz with £105m.
That means Bayern or PSG can rest players or take certain periods of certain games a little easier and that leaves them fresher come the end of the season. As the demands on players have increased, it may be that the benefits of not being flogged through an exhausting battle every week have come to outweigh the disadvantages of not being quite so case-hardened as their English opponents.
Will Unwin was at 2026’s equivalent of a “ghost goal”, and saw an amazing pitch invasion as an epic National League title race was decided.
The Minstermen are back in the Football League after a decade away, but it all came down to injury time after 46 matches and 4,140 minutes of football. It was utter chaos as the final fixture included more pitch invasions than goals.
Arsenal, the holders, take on Lyon in the Women’s Champions League.
Suzanne Wrack has spoken to Olivia Smith: “As the season reaches its climax, a Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday is testament to how far up the ladder Smith has climbed. Now, she is heading towards unknown territory: a second season at the same club for the first time in her senior career. “I do feel quite calm now, knowing that I have set down some roots here, but at the end of the day, football is football and you never know what’s next,” she says. “So I’m always on my toes but, right now, I’m kind of laid-back, just enjoying the time here in the present with Arsenal and looking forward to winning more silverware and growing as a player and a person.”
From one of the game’s greatest ever goalkeepers, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, an extract from his autobiography.
I sorted out my mind: “Come on, Gigi,” I said to myself, and I gave myself strength: “When the game is over you can stop playing football. Just take on this hour and a half and then say goodbye to it all.”
Hearts just have to win today:
Such a big game for Leeds, safe from relegation, just about. Now for a chance to play in a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 and reach a first final since 1973.
Hsve Liverpool seen the last of Mohamed Salah? At least Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz scored for Liverpool against Crystal Palace, a belated downpayment or two.
What a battle at the bottom, West Ham and Spurs both looked down at one point. Amd yet there’s still four games to go, and so much to play for.
Chelsea v Leeds will see Calum McFarlane taking charge, and the caretaker has had to do some sweeping up after Marc Cucurella’s barber was the latest to leak team news.
“Of course, everyone at the club has to feel responsible, staff and players. We need to, the players know that, staff and all that, we’ve spoken. We know the recent form has not been good enough and we’re going to do absolutely everything we can and work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we can put in a good performance on Sunday and I think that’s where it starts.
“I think a lot of football is about momentum and we obviously have had a bit of a losing streak. That can change with one positive result and one positive performance and what we’re going to be able to do.
On the leaks: “It has been addressed. It’s been addressed previously. It’s something that we are looking into and it needs to stop. “We’ve spoken to them about the importance of that and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
City and Pep Guardiola had Arsenal on their minds, too. The Gunners moved back to the top. Mikel Arteta had City on his mind, by little coincidence.
Saturday’s FA Cup tie was a slowburner but took off in the last 15 minutes. For a brief monent, the shock was on. Then City did City.
Preamble
Good morning, and welcome. Saturday was a big day in the Premier League, and in the FA Cup. We will have all the reaction here. Sunday is all about Chelsea v Leeds, about as evocative an FA Cup tie as there can be, In Scotland, Hibs v Hearts, an Edinburgh derby with so much riding on it, 40 years of hurt in the Jambos’ case.
That and all the morning news, as it happens. Join me.
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