VAR, fine margins & 'superior' Lyon cost Arsenal Champions League final spot

Figure caption,

Lyon beat Arsenal to reach Women's Champions League final

Mere millimetres.

That, combined with a lengthy VAR check, was what knocked defending champions Arsenal out of the Women's Champions League in the cruellest of fashion.

The Gunners were heading for extra-time in Lyon after Alessia Russo scored with 15 minutes remaining to level the tie on aggregate.

But their dreams of reaching back-to-back European finals were soon crushed when Jule Brand's late goal was allowed to stand following a Video Assistant Referee check that for lasted three minutes and 10 seconds.

The replays showed that Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy had played the German winger onside by the smallest of margins.

It wasn't the only decision that VAR took its time over and Arsenal's players were frustrated with the stop-start nature of the match at Groupama Stadium.

"It's hard, I felt like at the start of the game the ball was in play for about two minutes in 20," Arsenal defender Leah Williamson told BBC Sport.

"With the rules, I don't think we're all on the same page with it, so it's frustrating. it was very stop start."

Lindsey Heaps had her seventh-minute opener disallowed by referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi, who believed Ingrid Engen and Ada Hegerberg were in an offside position in front of Arsenal keeper Daphne van Domselaar.

VAR eventually agreed with Ferrieri Caputi's decision, but it wasn't long until it got involved again.

The Italian referee initially waved away Melchie Dumornay and Lyon's appeal for a penalty when it appeared she had been brought down by Wubben-Moy.

The replays seemed inconclusive, and anything but 'clear and obvious', but VAR asked Ferrieri Caputi to watch the incident on the pitchside monitor and she ultimately changed her decision to penalty.

Speaking after the game, Slegers said she hadn't re-watched the incident but she added that Arsenal needed to "respect the decision".

"I thought it was very start stop in the first half, the game was not being played in any rhythm, which at times wasn't an issue for us to take some sting out of the game," Slegers said.

"But yeah, I haven't watched it back. We have to respect the decision and move on."

Arsenal fans celebrated as Van Domselaar denied Wendie Renard from the spot and the Gunners were charging up the pitch when play suddenly stopped.

There was confusion in the stands before confirmation came through that VAR had ordered a re-take after watching Van Domselaar leap off her line.

Renard made no mistake at the second time of asking, wiping out Arsenal's advantage from the first leg at Emirates Stadium and setting the tone for the remainder of the tie.

'Lyon's performance superior to Arsenal's'

But it wasn't just VAR that harmed Arsenal's chances of becoming the first British side to reach successive Women's Champions League finals.

The two-time European champions, who beat Lyon in last year's semi-finals, were completely outplayed by the eight-time champions on Saturday.

"Arsenal came here last year and overcame the deficit to win, this time Lyon got their revenge," former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis said on BBC Two.

"They were the better team and had the better quality on the pitch."

From the start, Slegers' defence looked shaky as the French side peppered their goal with chances.

"Lyon raised their levels today. They came out really strong. They had Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay back in the side, who are world class players," Arsenal captain Kim Little told BBC Two.

"They were the better team. Across two legs it was two teams with styles of football that have gone against each other."

Dumornay, widely regarded as one of the best attacking players in the world, had been deemed unfit to play in the first leg, but she made her mark in the reverse fixture - running rings around the Arsenal backline.

"You can't go into these games with slow starts and let Lyon build momentum," former Arsenal defender Anita Asante said.

"They rode the expectation better and got players who could cause problems into the game early."

Brown-Finnis added: "Their performance from the start to the finish was superior to Arsenal's".

Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed