Women’s Champions League, Semi-final, Leg 1
Sunday, 24th of April
Olympique Lyon – Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 (2-1)
Scorers: 6′ Marie-Antoinette Katoto (P), 23′ Wendie Renard (L) pen, 33′ Catarina Macario (L), 50′ Catarina Macario (L), 58′ Paulina Dudek (P) pen
Yellow cards: 13′ Grace Geyoro (P), 34′ Sandy Baltimore (P), 63′ Sakina Karchaoui (P)
2nd leg
Saturday, 30th of April at 21.00 CET
Summary
After a careful start, the guests, who eliminated Bayern in the previous round, managed to get an opener in their first meaningful attack. Marie-Antoinette Katoto received the ball in the area, threw Wendie Renard out of the game and finished from a tight angle on the near post. Christiane Endler could have done better. Lyon, who managed to come out on top of Juventus, managed to get their first real attempt in the 9th minute, when Amandine Henry tried her luck from 25 meters, but Barbora Votikova saved her shot. In the 22nd minute, PSG’s defense forgot on Melvine Malard who had a lot of space and time but sent the strike too much down the middle. Votikova managed to deflect the shot, but Malard was first on the bounce and the Czech goalkeeper brought her down. Wendie Renard, who became the first player with 100 appearances in the Women’s Champions League, converted the penalty to even the score. Just ten minutes later, Votikova poor’s goal-kick ended up on the foot of Ada Hegerberg who sent an in-depth pass to Catarina Macario, who routinely sent the ball pass the unlucky goalkeeper and Lyon was in the lead after the first half.
⏸️ Malgré l'ouverture du score de @MarieKatoto, les Parisiennes sont menées d'un but à la pause.#OLPSG I 2-1 pic.twitter.com/UvUtnXeQYa
— PSG Féminines (@PSG_Feminines) April 24, 2022
The second half started in the worst possible way for Parisians. After confusion and misunderstanding in the defense, Votikova failed to clear the ball in time and Macario just had to push the ball into the empty net from vicinity. Really not the best night for the Czech international between the post, who could have done better with all three of Lyon’s goals. PSG returned to the game in the 58th minute, when Paulina Dudek scored from the spot, following VAR intervention and Malard’s handball in the area. The current French champions got their equalizer in the 75th minute, but Grace Gayoro’s goal was ruled out for offside. Deep in extra time, Lyon had a chance to increase the lead before the second leg. Henry led the quick counter-attack down the right side, found Hegerberg in the box, but Votikova did good this time and kept her team in the game with just one goal deficit ahead of the return leg.
𝗟𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗲 & 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘂 🦁🔴🔵
En l’emportant 3 buts à 2, nos Lyonnaises prennent l’avantage dans ces demi-finales d'@UWCL, avant le match retour à Paris samedi prochain ! 👊
3-2 #OLPSG pic.twitter.com/sAAMyCSsKd
— OL Féminin (@OLfeminin) April 24, 2022
An exciting game, where PSG had more possession but Lyon more shots. Votikova’s performance cost the Parisians three goals, but they can be happy to be just one goal down. Last year, they came out on top. How will the French tie end this time?