A goal in each half from Linda Caicedo and Athenea del Castillo gave Real Madrid a valuable 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano in their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday. The English side made the early running, but were hit on the counter when Madrid made their first chance of the match in the 22nd minute.
Real’s Sandie Toletti intercepted an Arsenal pass in her own half and picked out former Manchester United striker Signe Bruun.
Her pass found Colombian international Caicedo who held off the challenge of US defender Emily Fox before surging into the box and finding the bottom left of goal with a neat finish. Beth Mead went close to leveling just before halftime, but slid her shot just wide of Misa Rodriguez’s right-hand post.
Photo: AFP
Arsenal, in a joint-record 16th quarter-final and looking to reach an eighth semi-final, pressed in the second half for an equalizer, forcing Misa into a series of saves, but the Gunners were again hit on the counter eight minutes from time. This time Scottish midfielder Caroline Weir, playing against her old club, fed substitute Athenea down the left channel.
Chasing to the edge of the Arsenal box, she stepped inside and drilled a drive toward the left post Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger could only palm into the corner of the net.
“It’s a great result and a great win,” said Bruun. “We had to stick together and work as a team. We are very happy with the scoreline, but there is another game to go and now we have to focus on it.”
Arsenal captain Kim Little admitted her side were “disappointed” with the defeat and would need to step up a level in next week’s second leg in London if they are to make it into a semi-final against either Bayern Munich or record eight-times champion Olympique Lyonnais.
“Now we are sad, but we have to recover so that the second leg will be different,” Little said. “We adapted better to the game in the second half. We created some good chances — but in the second leg, we will have to create even more and play good football.”
“That’s what we need as a team for the second leg,” she said.
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