đŸ’« UWCL: Miedema the Arsenal hero as Real Madrid, PSG and Juventus advance | OneFootball

đŸ’« UWCL: Miedema the Arsenal hero as Real Madrid, PSG and Juventus advance | OneFootball

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Padraig Whelan·28 September 2022

đŸ’« UWCL: Miedema the Arsenal hero as Real Madrid, PSG and Juventus advance

Article image:đŸ’« UWCL: Miedema the Arsenal hero as Real Madrid, PSG and Juventus advance

The second leg action from round two of the Uefa Women’s Champions League play-offs took place throughout the night on Wednesday.

This is what went down.


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Ajax 0-1 Arsenal (2-3)

Scorers: Miedema 51â€Č

Vivianne Miedema scored a crucial second half winner at Ajax to fire WSL leaders Arsenal into the group stages of the Champions League.

Im front of a sold out crowd in Amsterdam, Stina Blackstenius went close for the Gunners before they lost Rafaelle Souza to injury shortly before the interval.

But back on home soil, Miedema kept up her fast start to the season with the crucial opener six minutes after half-time when she fired low into the bottom corner from the edge of the area for the goal that sent her side through.


HĂ€cken 0-2 PSG (1-4)

Scorers: Martens 53â€Č, Diani 60â€Č

PSG turned on the style in the second half in Sweden to advance beyond a tough test from HĂ€cken.

The French side needed a late winner for a home victory in the first leg and were again frustrated in the first half of the return fixture, with Ramona Bachmann having an attempt saved in the only significant effort.

But ultimately their class came to the fore as Lieke Martens found the corner of the net from a dropping ball seven minutes after the break before Kadidiatou Diani added a swift second shortly afterwards, popping up at the back post to divert a deep cross home and put the tie beyond doubt.


Real Madrid 2-1 Rosenborg (5-1)

Scorers: Weir 48â€Č, Del Castillo 61â€Č; Nautnes 8â€Č

Real Madrid eased into the group stages despite suffering an early setback as they saw off Rosenborg at home on Wednesday night.

Trailing by three goals from the first leg in Norway, Rosenborg gave themselves an early glimmer of hope by taking a surprise lead through Emilie Nautnes for the half-time advantage, benefiting from slack marking in the centre to steer in a cross from the right.

Real came close to an equaliser moments before the whistle, only for Caroline Weir’s finish from a neat dribble to be ruled out by the offside flag but the Scot wouldn’t be denied for long and equalised with a goal which was a carbon copy of the one her side conceded earlier.

The provider of that goal, Athenea Del Castillo then completed the turnaround shortly after the hour with a fantastic finish into the roof of the net after she left her marker for dead with some dazzling footwork inside the area for the winner.


Juventus 2-0 KĂžge (3-1)

Scorers: Björk 11â€Č, Cantore 77â€Č

Juventus put their recent struggles behind them to see off a spirited KĂžge side and return to the UWCL group stages.

With Joe Montemurro’s side held 1-1 from the first leg and in indifferent form of late, Sara Björk settled the early nerves and gave them the ideal start by heading home after 11 minutes.

She came close to a second before half-time, only for her effort to sail inches wide of the mark but any lingering nerves for the Bianconeri were extinguished in the closing stages when Sofia Cantore came off the bench to wrap things up with a fantastic finish from a difficult angle.


Benfica 2-1 Rangers (5-3)

Scorers: Lacasse 92â€Č, Silva 119â€Č; Watson 87â€Č

Rangers suffered extra-time heartbreak in Lisbon as their dream of making the Champions League group stages was dashed in cruel fashion.

With the Glasgow side trailing by a goal from the first leg, they looked set for elimination via a scoreless stalemate, only to pop up with a late strike to send the tie to extra-time.

After Benfica had missed several gilt-edged chances throughout, they were made to pay for those with three minutes left when 16-year-old Emma Watson struck from close range following a corner.

But that joy was short-lived as Rangers started the second half in the worst possible fashion as Cloe Lacasse made up for some of her earlier misses by dinking into the net after another trademark surge down the left towards goal.

Despite being reduced to 10 players after Lucia Alves was shown the line, Benfica finished with a flourish and ended with a win when JĂ©ssica Silva struck in the final minute.


Other results

  • RosengĂ„rd 3-1 Brann (4-2)
  • Slavia Prague 0-0 Valur (1-0)
  • Vllaznia 2-1 Vorskla-Kharkiv-2 (3-2)
  • ZĂŒrich 3-0 Sarajevo (10-0)
  • St Pölten 2-2 KuPS Kuopio (3-2)