Tabitha Tindell’s breakaway second-half strike saw BK Hacken beat Arsenal 1-0 in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League Qualifying Second Round tie in Gothenburg.
Arsenal wasted numerous openings on the Bravida Arena’s plastic pitch and were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal when Tindell broke clear with 13 minutes to go to to beat Manuela Zinsberger with a composed finish as the hosts, second in the Swedish top flight, maintained their unbeaten home run stretching back three months.
However, Jonas Eidevall will be wondering quite how his side left his homeland without scoring after the visitors passed up numerous openings on the night as first summer signing Rosa Kafaji crashed an effort off the bar against her old club.
Hanna Wijk of Hacken is challenged by Katie McCabe of Arsenal
Meanwhile, after the break BK Hacken captain Jennifer Falk produced a word-class stop to somehow keep out Beth Mead’s point-blank header, albeit the Sweden international did not know much about it, before substitute Frida Maanum’s injury-time header also hit the crossbar.
Eidevall, though, will be confident his players will be able to finish off the job when the two sides, who faced one another in the quarter-finals of the Champions League back in 2011/12, with Arsenal running out 3-2 victors, meet again in the return leg at Meadow Park on Thursday September 26, with the winners progressing to the group stage of the competition.
Sunday 22nd September 11:30am
Kick off 12:30pm
Eidevall ‘certain’ goals will come for Arsenal
Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall:
“It is always worrying in football when you are not efficient with your goal scoring opportunities and I think if we zoom out a little and look objectively, that is the right analysis that we create a lot of goal scoring opportunities.
“It is a combination today of good goalkeeping and finishing that is on very thin margins, we hit the cross bar twice, we force their goalkeeper to make some really good saves.
“It is a combination of those two things. I am certain if we continue to create we will score goals.”
Little: We need to up our game for second leg
Arsenal captain Kim Little:
“Obviously it’s straight after the game so I’m disappointed with the result. I never like to lose a football match. That’s my initial response. I think when you represent this badge you want to win every match so that’s disappointing, but it’s the first half of this tie and we put that into perspective.
“We created a lot of chances, which we should have been a bit more clinical with. But Hacken were a big threat, they were aggressive in their play, and they came out on top tonight. We need to make sure we up our game for the next leg.
“That’s the fast-paced nature of football. Right now my feeling is not that nice a feeling because it’s straight after the match and we’ve lost, but we’ve got another game Sunday, which we need to focus on to start the week, then the second leg next week. They’re another two huge matches. Yes, we would have liked to have started in a better way but I have no doubt that we can turn that around.
“We all mentioned that in our huddle then. We go back and get to play them at home in front of our fans, which we love doing. That will be a special night and hopefully we can get the result we need.”
What’s next?
Sunday 22nd September 11:30am
Kick off 12:30pm
Arsenal begin their Women’s Super League campaign against Man City at Emirates on Sunday, with the game live on Sky Sports Main Event (kick-off 12.30pm), before they host Hacken in the return leg of their Champions League second-round Qualifier at Meadow Park on Thursday September 26 (kick-off 7.30pm).
Man City thrash Paris FC despite missing Shaw with Visa issue
Jess Park celebrates scoring Man City’s second goal against Paris FC with team-mate Laia Aleixandri
Vivianne Miedema netted a debut goal and Jess Park scored twice as Manchester City brushed off Khadija Shaw’s unintended absence to thrash Paris FC 5-0 in their season-opening Champions League qualifier.
City’s hopes of reaching the group stage for the first time in four seasons got off to a rocky start when it emerged that Shaw had not obtained the necessary visa to travel for the first leg – reportedly due to a late application – but things went more smoothly on the field.
Miedema, a huge summer signing from rivals Arsenal, took just 36 minutes to open her account for Gareth Taylor’s side and Park added a second two minutes later.
Mary Fowler continued the scoring after half-time, Park grabbed her second just before the hour mark and Chloe Kelly stepped off the bench to render the second leg moot.
‘An incredible way to start’
Man City forward Jess Park:
“[It’s] an incredible way to start the season in the Champions League, it was great,” she declared.
“It’s incredible [playing in the midfield]. You can trust anybody on the ball and you can see that in the way we play. We trust each other and want to play with each other and we just want to score.
“[Tonight’s] up there with some of the best times [I’ve had at City] so it’s a nice way to start the season.
“Really excited, I can’t wait. Tonight just shows I can’t wait to get going and continue. I’m ready to go and I can’t wait.”
Watch Arsenal vs Man City in the WSL live on Sky Sports on Sunday; kick-off 12.30pm