Champions Response

16 October, 2025

Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

After a bruising opening defeat in the Champions League, Arsenal responded with the measured assurance expected of reigning European champions. Pragmatic, patient, and built on the simple discipline of avoiding further wounds.

Renné Slegers made several adjustments from the weekend’s domestic win, bringing in Lotte Wubben-Moy for the injured teenager Katie Reid, sidelined with a groin issue.

From the start, the pattern was familiar. Arsenal controlled the ball — nearly seventy percent of it — yet struggled to translate possession into purpose. The rhythm was neat but bloodless, the final third still haunted by hesitation. Benfica, organized and confident at home, surpassed them for precision: five shots to Arsenal’s equal number, two on target to Arsenal’s none.

Beth Mead offered the first glimpse of danger in the 19th minute, her free kick curling over the wall and brushing the roof of the net. Benfica replied instantly, Diana Silva forcing Daphne van Domselaar to guard her near post with sharp reflexes.

Wubben-Moy, unmarked on 29 minutes, sent a header wide from Kyra Cooney-Cross’s corner — a moment that seemed to sum up Arsenal’s half: opportunity without incision. Van Domselaar, once more, kept them level before the interval, diving low to parry Diana Gomes’s header in a save of stunning reaction and control.

Kim Little fired over early after the restart, but the breakthrough finally arrived on 57 minutes. Cooney-Cross spread the play wide to Alessia Russo, who found Mariona Caldentey cutting in from the left. Mead’s run drew confusion in the Benfica defence; centre-back Diana Gomes mistimed her clearance, the ball ricocheting towards goal before Russo applied the decisive touch. Fortune, not flourish — but champions often thrive on such margins.

Slegers, seeking calm, turned to her bench. Stina Blackstenius and Chloe Kelly entered with half an hour to play, followed later by Caitlin Foord. The tempo lifted, but Benfica continued to press, Letícia Almeida’s strike over the bar serving as a reminder that the game was not yet safe.

Only in the 89th minute did Arsenal breathe freely. Kelly, ever inventive from set pieces, rolled a clever low free-kick into the area, Russo reacting fastest to steer it home. 

Arsenal left Lisbon with a clean sheet, three points, and the quiet satisfaction of a side that has rediscovered its footing. 

SL Benfica 0 – 2 Arsenal

(B. Mead ‘57, A. Russo ‘89)