Arsenal Women 1 Manchester City Women 0 (AET)
Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius’ relief was palpable as she scrappily edged Arsenal past holders Manchester City and into March’s Continental Tyres League Cup final with a priceless extra-time winner that will go some way towards silencing her critics and those who feel Arsenal don’t have enough firepower up front.
After her club tried desperately to sign a striker on transfer deadline day, you could forgive Blackstenius if her confidence had been rather low, especially when she then fired a blank on Sunday as Arsenal were held to a rare goalless draw away at West Ham in the league, leaving her without a WSL goal since November.
And fears that Arsenal would pay for their failure to sign a goalscorer in January were rising when Lina Hurtig, Blackstenius’ Sweden national side team-mate, spurned two glorious chances to win this semi-final in the second half of the initial 90 minutes, hitting the crossbar when it looked easier to score and then heading agonisingly wide from a free header. Blackstenius herself also initially wasted good opportunities after coming off the bench, and was denied by two excellent Alex Greenwood tackles in the box in second-half stoppage time.
That all seemed to be feeding into a narrative that Arsenal lacked a cutting edge up front in the long-term absence of Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead, who both suffered season-ending knee injuries late in 2022. However, Blackstenius’ persistence eventually paid off.
Early in the 30 minutes of extra time, with the help of a touch of good fortune as her effort was deflected in off Spain left-back Leila Ouahabi, she won the tie. It came after Frida Maanum stole possession and slipped the ball into the path of Hurtig, whose left-wing cross found a grateful Blackstenius in the right place at the right time.
Earlier, Arsenal had appeared out-of-sorts in an unfamiliar formation, playing three centre-halves in Leah Williamson, Rafaelle Souza and Lotte Wubben-Moy. But the hosts improved just after the hour mark when Jonas Eidevall reverted to his more familiar back four and they upped their intensity to knock out the holders.
West Ham and Chelsea will contest the second semi-final on Thursday night and the winners will meet Arsenal in the final at Selhurst Park on Sunday, 5 March.
Match details
Arsenal (3-4-3): D’Angelo 7; Williamson 6 (Beattie 7, 83), Wubben-Moy 6 (Catley 7, 64), Souza 6; Wienroither 6 (Maritz 6, 76), Little 7, Maanum 7, McCabe 7; Pelova 6 (Hurtig 6, 64), Foord 6, Kuhl 6 (Blackstenius 7, 65)
Subs not used: Zinsberger (gk), Walti, Marckese, Agyemang
Yellow cards: Wubben-Moy, Little, Maritz, Souza
Manchester City (4-3-3): MacIver 6; Casparij 6 (Coombs 6, 101), Kennedy 6 (Houghton 6, 89), Greenwood 7, Aleixandri 7 (Ouahabi 6, 80); Castellanos 6, Hasegawa 7, Angeldahl 6 (Fowler 6, 113); Kelly 6 (Raso, 90) Shaw 6, Hemp 7
Subs not used: Roebuck (gk), Blakstad, Dahou
Yellow cards: Kelly, Hemp
Referee: Abigail Byrne (Suffolk)