Katie McCabe would usually not be best pleased when she is substituted, but when she was taken off in the 92nd minute of the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final away to Lyon, she was beaming.
By then the London club had, remarkably, beaten the most successful club in the history of the competition 4-1, giving them a 5-3 aggregate victory after the French side had won the first leg 2-1 at the Emirates.
And with that, McCabe, in her 10th season with Arsenal, became the first Republic of Ireland international to reach the Champions League final since its inaugural year in 2009.
There were Irish winners of the competition in its previous life, the Uefa Women’s Cup, Arsenal’s Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant and Yvonne Tracy the last to achieve the feat in 2007. But no joy since.
Arne Slot’s coolness lies at heart of Liverpool’s record-equalling title
Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool title triumph ‘truly deserved’
Katie McCabe set to play in Champions League final after Arsenal stun Lyon
Caoimhín Kelleher, Adam Idah and Liam Scales celebrate titles on memorable weekend for Irish players
To put Arsenal’s triumph in context, Lyon had not lost a Champions League semi-final since 2009, winning all 11 of their appearances at that stage of the competition.
Should the 7-1 split be outlawed?
But they were well and truly slain this time round, an own goal by their goalkeeper Christiane Endler and a 20-yard strike from Mariona Caldentey giving Arsenal a 2-0 lead at the break.
Alessia Russo and Caitlin Foord doubled that lead in the second half, before Melchie Dumornay pulled a late goal back for Lyon, but Arsenal had sealed their place in their first European final in 18 years, their opponents on May 24th in Lisbon the three-in-a-row seeking Barcelona. They trounced Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate, beating them 4-1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday having won the first leg by the same scoreline.
