Page 3 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.2 2022-23

Arsenal and Rangers will go into the second
legs of their respective UEFA Women’s
Champions League Second Round ties with
work needed to do if they are to earn their
place in the group stages of the competition,
after both sides were unable to win their first
legs at home this week.
Arsenal took on Ajax Amsterdam at
Meadow Park and a frustrating evening for the
Gunners saw the match end in a 2-2 draw. Ajax
started on the front foot and after an early shot
on target required a good save from Manuela
Zinsberger, their pressure eventually paid off Kayla McCoy heads Rangers in front against Benfica
in the 16th minute, as a series of short passes (Colin Poultney/collargeimages.co.uk).
culminated in Romee Leuchter firing home from
close range.
Arsenal’s response was swift, Rafaelle Souza rose high to meet a corner and although
her header rattled the bar, Stina Blackstenius pounced on the rebound to bury it into the
net.
Arsenal started the second half strongly and it brought its reward just before the
hour. Beth Mead was brought down in the area and Kim Little stepped up to calmly slot
home from the spot.
Seven minutes from time though, and after being under much pressure from the
home side, Ajax grabbed an equaliser when Leuchter scored her second from close range to
level the scores once again.
Arsenal did get the ball in the net again but Katie McCabe’s effort was ruled out by an
offside flag, although she had seemed to have timed her run perfectly.
Arsenal now head to Amsterdam for the second leg of their tie on Wednesday, with
their hopes hanging in the balance.
Rangers meanwhile played the first leg of their tie against Benfica at Ibrox Park but
also face a hard task as they went down 3-2 to their Portuguese opponents.
After early Benfica pressure, Rangers settled down and started to press forward,
bringing reward as they took the lead on 24 minutes, Kayla McCoy powering in a header
from a Brogan Hay cross. However the visitors were to get back on level terms before half
time, Ana Vitoria slotting home after a neat exchange of passes.
Vitoria then put Benfica ahead with a sweetly struck volley but Rangers responded
immediately, as McCoy latched onto a long ball from Nicola Docherty and tucked home the
equaliser.
With ten minutes remaining, Pauleta put Benfica back in front after Rangers were
unable to clear a corner and this time, the visitors held on to take a one-goal advantage into
their second leg, again on Wednesday.
FIRST LEG SCORES:
HB Koge 1 Juventus 1 FC Rosenberg 0 Real Madrid 3
Real Sociedad 0 Bayern Munich 1 Valur 0 Slavia Prague 1
Rangers 2 Benfica 3 KuPS Kuopia 0 St Polten 1
Arsenal 2 Ajax Amsterdam 2 Brann Bergen 1 FC Rosengard 1
Sarajevo 0 FC Zurich Frauen 7 Sparta Prague 1 Roma 2
Vorskla-Kharkiv-2 1 Vllaznia 1 Paris Saint Germain 2 BK Hacken 1
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