Unnecessary draw after a 2-0 lead: The VfL Wolfsburg players gave up a comfortable lead in the first leg of the semifinals against Arsenal.
In the team circle, shortly after the final whistle, Alexandra Popp and Co. swore to the hot dance for the final: The footballers of VfL Wolfsburg still have the Champions League final in mind after a changeable performance. Coach Tommy Stroot’s team had to settle for a 2-2 (2-1) win against Arsenal in the first leg of the semifinals, but the champions lost a top starting position after leading 2-0 in the VW Arena Second leg in London on May 1st.
“At first it feels like a defeat,” admitted Germany goalkeeper Merle Frohms: “There’s disappointment, but we did a lot of things right. We’re capable of beating Arsenal.” DFB colleague Lena Oberdorf also assured: “We are prepared for the second leg.”
Without the battered DFB captain Popp (Wade), Ewa Pajor (19th) and Sveindis Jonsdottir (24th) scored in front of a record home crowd of 22,617 fans for the Wolfsburg women, who have won the Henkel Cup twice so far (2013 and 2014) and theirs have their sights set on entering the sixth final. But Rafaelle (44′) and Stina Blackstenius (69′) equalized for Arsenal.
Against the Londoners, who had knocked out Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, Stroot expected a “game on an equal footing” – and the VfL coach was to be right. The weakened English team acted courageously, both teams felt each other out in the early stages.
VfL then took more and more control and took the lead after a nice move: The striking Jonsdottir cleverly put it through to Pajor after a long ball, who scored an ice-cold goal on the bottom left.
And the German double winner stayed tuned – but also got a big present. Rafaelle played a disastrous cross pass into Jonsdottir’s feet, who only needed to push in. Arsenal swam at this stage.
The Wolves, who reached the cup final 5-0 in Munich last week and are only one point behind leaders Bayern in the league, gradually lost control of the game. And caught the goal after a corner through Rafaelle.
In front of the eyes of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the hosts came out of the break more actively, but lacked the final precision. Both teams looked for a way forward, substitute Tabea Waßmuth missed the 3:1 (68th) – and Blackstenius scored on the other side.
In the final in Eindhoven on June 3rd, last year’s finalists FC Barcelona or FC Chelsea would be waiting with the national team players Ann-Katrin Berger and Melanie Leupolz – the Spaniards won the first leg in London 1-0 on Saturday.
