Article #17186

Tight decisions and Arsenal’s fragility from set pieces saw French side through to Women’s Champions League final

Fine margins defined this football match. Just a few centimetres, in the key moments. As OL Lyonnes owner Michele Kang celebrated on the pitch, arm-in-arm with her players with the Arsenal squad’s faces a picture of total dejection, those tiny differentials will have felt wider than the Rhône which runs through the city. Arsenal’s reign as European champions has ended.

Up in the top tier, overlooking the scene with almost a bird’s-eye view, around 600 Arsenal fans had reason to be proud but ultimately were despondent. It was barely the thickness of a French baguette that had kept Jule Brand onside when her late winning goal for OL Lyonnes was reviewed by the VAR. In similarly agonising fashion, Arsenal’s Daphne van Domselaar stepped off her line just too early when initially saving a first-half penalty, which Wendie Renard retook and scored. But if those travelling Arsenal supporters were reflecting honestly, Lyonnes were worthy winners.