Chiamaka Nnadozie saves two penalties as Paris FC knocks out Arsenal Women

Arsenal Women have been knocked out in the first qualifying round for the UEFA Women’s Champions League following a penalty shootout loss to Paris FC.

The Parisians’ European journey continues following a suspenseful match in which they stood as stubborn opponents to Arsenal in the first half, and later dominated them in the early minutes of the second half, successfully taking the lead and putting pressure on the English giants.

Paris FC took a comfortable lead over Arsenal Women in the second half, after Mathilde Bourdieu, scored two goals in the 56th and 57th minutes of the match.

Arsenal took advantage of the Parisians’ lack of focus on in the defence to pull a comeback. First Alessia Russo reduced the gap by scoring her first goal as a London Red (2-1, 80’), before Jennifer Beattie netted a decisive header in the match’s dying minutes (2-2, 96’) taking the match into extra time.

In the second half of extra time, Julie Soyer scored a first-time finish, putting Paris back in front, but former Red Devil star, Alessia Russo, brought Arsenal level again with a beautiful 22-meter shot.

In spite of the comeback, Arsenal, who reached the semi-finals of the competition last season were knocked out of the qualifiers following a superb performance from Chiamaka Nnadozie, the Nigerian wonder goalkeeper during the penalty shootout that followed.

Chiamaka Nnadozie saved Alessia Russo and Frida Maanum’s shots in the penalty shootout, offering the Parisian underdogs a 4-2 win.

There was also penalty heartbreak for Celtic, who were beaten 11-10 in a remarkable shootout against Norwegian side Valerenga after a 2-2 draw.

Elsewhere, Glasgow City defeated Gintra Women 3-0, Shelbourne Ladies were 3-0 winners over Cardiff, while Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Juventus on penalties following a 1-1 draw.