LONDON -- Arsenal pulled off an incredible comeback to beat Real Madrid 3-0 in Wednesday's UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Emirates, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to book their spot the competition's final four.
The Gunners, who had suffered defeat in Madrid on a much criticised and severely muddied pitch, faced an uphill battle on home turf in London. However, with the scores deadlocked at half-time thanks to Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar's fine save from Filippa Angeldahl, three goals in 14 second-half minutes from Alessia Russo (2) and Mariona Caldentey tipped the tie in the Gunners' favour.
Renee Slegers' side denied Real Madrid a shot at their first Champions League semifinal and, in the process, became the first team in seven years to overcome a two-goal deficit in the tournament's knockout phase.
Arsenal's efforts not only booked them a ticket to face eight-time champions Lyon in the semifinals, but potentially saw a new dynamic duo formed after the performances of Russo and Chloe Kelly.
Russo's dynamite performance
Russo was absolutely relentless in N5. Her presence was felt around the whole pitch, with the striker finding her groove in the forward position and hammering home two vital goals. She was twice denied a hat trick after finding the back of the net from an offside position, but her ability to control the tempo gave the Madrid defence all kinds of issues -- something Slegers praised the England forward for.
"Alessia was really good for us again tonight," she said after the game. "She scores two goals, but she does so many other things for the team as well that are so important. You saw our press for example, today. She put so much work into it, like the others.
"It's always good for forwards and the players who get into those positions to finish attacks and get the ball into the net. It's important for them because that's something they need to bring to the team in games. Of course, it's good for 'Less [Alessia]. But you can see she's so consistent, stable, as a person, that she doesn't get swayed by if she scores or not, or what exactly her contribution to the result is. She just works really hard for the team, and she keeps on going."
The first half had seen a string of crosses from Kelly untouched by her teammates, but it took less than a minute into the second half for Russo to meet her delivery and sweep home the opener brilliantly.
After Caldentey made it 2-0, Russo then topped off her performance with the clincher: a fine half-volley into the top of the net after Katie McCabe's free kick was nodded across goal by Steph Catley.
Russo had three more chances to bag a hat trick, two ruled out by the offside flag and the other when she went through one-on-one with goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez but couldn't capitalise, but hailed the night as one of her standout Arsenal performances.
"It was amazing. It still feels a bit surreal right now, I've not really let it sink in yet," she told TNT Sports. "Hopefully long may they continue."
Russo is now leading the race for the UWCL Golden Boot, along with Bayern Munich's Pernille Harder, as the 26-year-old has bagged six goals in the competition this season. And Arsenal will need her to be firing on all cylinders for their next clash.
Kelly's determination gets rewarded
After eight years away, Kelly seems to have slotted right back into the Arsenal way after she returned to the club on loan from Manchester City.
The 27-year-old endured a tumultuous start to the season and made only one Women's Super League start in six league appearances for Gareth Taylor's City side, being left as an unused substitute in several key matches. This led to her exclusion in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for UEFA Women's Nations League, though she was eventually recalled following an injury to Beth Mead.
But now Kelly has a new lease of life and spent the first half against Madrid putting in impeccably timed crosses into the box from the right flank to no avail, begging for a teammate to get on the end of her deliveries. Every time the ball was at her feet, the 22,517-strong crowd (a record for a UEFA women's club competition quarterfinal in England) was expecting something magical to happen.
Within three minutes of the second half, Kelly had registered two assists after feeding two phenomenal balls to both Russo and Caldentey to put Arsenal 2-0 ahead.
"We played to her strengths today," Slegers said afterwards. "She came in with a lot of motivation and with a smile on her face and she said: 'I want to enjoy football. I want to represent Arsenal. I want to do my best for the team.' I think that's what she's done since she came in."
Since joining Arsenal, Kelly has regained the trust of Wiegman, earning a spot in England's most recent squad for the upcoming fixtures against Belgium, and that is key as the Lionesses have less than 100 days until their UEFA Women's European Championship defence campaign begins. With Kelly getting regular minutes for Arsenal and putting in dominant displays alongside England teammate Russo, this could well be the new dynamic duo both club and country need.
With the Gunners now set to face former boss Joe Montemurro when they take on eight-time champions Lyon in the semifinals, Kelly and Russo's partnership will be in the spotlight as they look to cause a major upset.