Williamson penalty error as Arsenal draw 2-2 with Paris FC
Arsenal's difficult start to the season continued as Leah Williamson gave away a freak penalty late on, allowing Paris FC to come from two goals behind and draw 2-2 with the Gunners in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday. The result leaves Renee Slegers' side with one win from their opening four Women's Super League matches before this fixture and intensifies the questions being asked of the head coach.
Arsenal had appeared to be in complete control through Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway, both of whom scored their first goals of the season, before Clara Mateo and a penalty from substitute Maeline Mendy turned the evening on its head.
A slow start, then a breakthrough
Arsenal's main problem this season had been a lack of firepower in front of goal, and they were toothless for much of the first 45 minutes. The breakthrough came when Russo combined with Stanway before rediscovering her clinical edge with a fine finish from the edge of the box.
Stanway's goal followed shortly after the break. The former Bayern Munich midfielder was found unmarked inside the six-yard box and smashed home a volley to net her first goal since joining the club in the summer.
At that point there appeared to be only one winner.
Paris FC find a way back
Arsenal failed to push for a third goal and were made to pay. Paris FC captain Mateo broke away on the counter before rounding past goalkeeper Misa and slotting into an empty net.
The comeback was completed with three minutes of normal time remaining, in the most unusual of circumstances. Having won a goal kick, Misa passed the ball to Williamson, apparently for the Arsenal defender to take it herself. The referee had, however, already blown the whistle to resume play, so when Williamson picked the ball up to reposition it, Iuliana Demetrescu pointed to the spot.
Substitute Mendy fired into the bottom corner to salvage a point for the hosts and condemn Arsenal to another disappointing result.
Slegers absence adds to the pressure
The collapse puts further scrutiny on Slegers, whose side had managed only one win from their first four WSL games going into this match. The 37-year-old chose not to attend her post-match press conference, leaving assistant coach Aaron D'Antino to face the media.
D'Antino said Arsenal felt the decision had gone against them but accepted the circumstances that created it. "If we're looking at what we can control, it's just passing the ball to Leah," he said. "From what I remember seeing, the ball was still rolling and she was moving it to Leah for her to take the goal kicks as we normally do. So maybe the learning in that is how we get the ball to Leah, so we don't put ourselves in that situation.
"But yes, like I said, as far as we're concerned that's not [a penalty]. We haven't taken a goal kick, there's no advantage gained by Leah stopping the ball. But as an example of refereeing decisions, we just can't put ourselves in that situation in the first place."
Russo: the mistakes started earlier
Russo, speaking to Disney+, rejected the suggestion that the penalty alone had cost Arsenal the win, and pointed instead to how Paris FC were allowed back into the second half.
"No [I didn't see us not winning the game]. It was a mistake. Obviously it wasn't intended at all. It's football, sometimes things like that happen. Unfortunately, it wasn't ideal but we move on," she said.
"We let them come back into the second half way before that moment. We are disappointed but there were some really good things tonight."
Her goal also moved her to within one of Fran Kirby's English record of Women's Champions League goals, a milestone she said she had not been aware of at the time. "I had no idea that was even a record. It's nice. I'm really happy to have scored tonight because it's been a bit of a tough period. I'll just keep working hard and see what happens. Most importantly we keep building for Sunday and then the rest of the Champions League."
What comes next
Arsenal travel to Manchester City in the Women's Super League on Sunday, with kick-off at 4.30pm, before returning to Champions League action later in the league phase.
SportsLigue