We reached the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time since 2007 in style with a 4-1 win away to Lyon in the second leg of the semi-finals, coming from behind to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate.
A Chloe Kelly corner forced a Christiane Endler own goal to give us the perfect start in France, and Mariona Caldentey scored a screamer at the end of the opening 45 minutes to send us into the break full of confidence.
When it came to protecting that lead, it seemed the best form of defence was attack as Alessia Russo struck our third immediately after half-time, and Caitlin Foord capitalised on a defensive mistake to create pandemonium among those in red and white, enough to ensure Melchie Dumornay's 81st-minute goal was nothing more than a consolation.
what happened
Kim Little forced a great save from Endler early on, with the resulting corner being headed onto the Lyon goalkeeper and into the net by Damaris Egurrola for 1-0 to The Arsenal.
Wendie Renard shot over from close range in a crowded area after we didn’t clear the danger from a corner at the other end, before Foord drifted in from the left and went for goal on her right foot, Endler equal to it.
Ellie Carpenter’s cross was headed wide by Vanessa Gilles as the home side looked for a response, but when they gave the ball away in a dangerous area, it was Mariona’s cross that was headed wide by Russo.
Lyon conceding possession became a theme of the first half, doing so in the 34th minute allowing Mariona to curl high and wide from distance.
Selma Bacha’s long-range free-kick sailed onto the roof of our net during an end-to-end encounter, and a Lyon corner subsequently came out to Carpenter who fired over.
Then, on the brink of half-time, magic from Mariona. Kelly and Little made it happen in the final third before Russo set the ball up for our super Spaniard to bend it into the top right corner from the edge of the area with a postage stamp finish.
Daphne van Domselaar then denied Egurrola from close range and we went into the break ahead 2-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.
Over 500 Arsenal supporters were in full voice in the top tier of the OL Stadium as they witnessed Foord and Frida Maanum cause chaos among the Lyon backline at the start of the second half, allowing Russo to dart through on goal and nestle the ball beyond Endler for 3-0 and 4-2 on aggregate.
Russo forced another save as we went on the hunt for even more goals before Carpenter struck wide on the counter-attack.
Ada Hegerberg was next to see her effort thwarted by Van Domselaar, and Katie McCabe was on the line to get in the way of Dumornay's powerful half-volley.
Then, bedlam in the 63rd minute, as another defensive error from Lyon was punished by Foord, who had so much time and space to rifle the ball into the back of the net and put us in cruise control.
Dumornay pulled one back with nine minutes remaining to plant a slight seed of doubt, and Dzsenifer Marozsán headed over from close range during a late flurry of Lyon pressure, but in the end of one of our best performances of a season in which there have been so many, we got the job done to produce another unforgettable Champions League comeback.
WHAT IT MEANS
It’s time to book your flight to Lisbon! We face Barcelona in the final on May 24 for our second-ever Women's Champions League final, following on from our 2007 triumph.
What's next
We head to Villa Park on Wednesday looking to keep up the winning ways in the Barclays Women's Super League with a 6pm kick-off against Aston Villa.
LINE-UPS
Lyon: Endler, Carpenter, Gilles, Renard (C) (Sombath 75), Bacha, Egurrola (Marozsan 75), Heaps (Van de Donk 69), Dumornay, Diani, Hegerberg (Le Sommer 69), Chawinga (Majri 58)
Subs not used: Benkarth, Huerta, Junttila Nelhage, Dabritz, Svava, Becho, Tarciane
Arsenal: van Domselaar, Fox, Williamson, Catley, Mariona (Cooney-Cross 87), Little (C), McCabe (Reid 90+2), Maanum (Wubben-Moy 87), Kelly (Mead 71), Foord, Russo (Blackstenius 71)
Subs not used: Zinsberger, Williams, Ilestedt, Nighswonger, Walti, Pelova, Kafaji
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