Thanks for joining me. Here is Suzanne Wrack’s report.
Have some World Cup power rankings while we wait for Suzanne Wrack’s match report.
Full-time: Ajax 0-1 Arsenal (agg 2-3)
Arsenal just about deserved the victory tonight, with Miedema proving what an asset she is to any side. She had one sniff of goal and produced a fine finish to send Arsenal into the group stages.
90+4 mins: Catley knocks a cross behind for a corner which Arsenal clear.
The ball reaches Kardinaal 30 yards from goal but her shot is awful – it goes high and wide.
90+2 mins: Eidevall had a little moan at Doorn for no reason whatsoever. Get over it mate.
90 mins: Doorn is booked for fouling Mead there. Mead is still down and looks in a lot of pain. I am not sure if she will continue.
Hurtig on for Mead.
Six minutes added on.
Updated
88 mins: Meth and Doorn clash heads. Her Arsenal teammates rush over to her and get her onto her side. Both sets of medics are on quickly. Arsenal are unhappy with the clash. I personally do not think it was a deliberate but Doorn has caught Mead on the side of the face.
86 mins: Arsenal are trying to walk in a second. Foord gets into the box but is then forced backwards from inside the six-yard box. The balls reaches Mead but she takes her time and the chance is gone.
Tromp on, Grant off for Ajax.
84 mins: Miedema is off and Maanum is coming on. Arsenal looking to get more bodies in midfield.
82 mins: There is not enough pace in the Ajax attacks to currently threaten the Arsenal defence. Everything is being done at a snail’s pace.
80 mins: Ajax might need to diversify their ideas … starting with Van der Most being replaced by Bakker.
78 mins: McCabe gets round the back but her drilled cross is cleared.
75 mins: McCabe heads the ball up in the air inside the box but Pelova fails to make a decent contact and it trickles to the goalkeeper.
73 mins: HOW DOES IT NOT GO IN?!! Noordam backheels the ball to Noordam who sends in a fine cross along the six-yard line but Hoekstra jabs it wide under pressure from Wubben-Moy.
71 mins: Mead gets round the back and pulls the ball back to Wienroither who miscues her shot. The ball eventually reaches Foord on the edge of the box and she takes aim, only to see her effort blocked by a mix of defender and goalkeeper.
69 mins: Are some measured buildup play from Ajax, the ball reaches Grant on the right and she drills a cross off Wubben-Moy for a corner. It is worked short to Spitse who curls in a deeper cross under the crossbar but the goalkeeper claims easily.
67 mins: Zinsberger sprints out of her area to clear a long ball over the top but only achieves kicking it up in the air. Luckily, Wienroither is waiting and can whack away.
Blackstenius is replaced by Mead for Arsenal.
65 mins: Hoekstra is on for Ajax. She replaces Weerden.
63 mins: Weerden gets to the byline but McCabe comes across to block the cross and give away a corner.
61 mins: Arsenal are trying to slow things down and are looking pretty well-organised at the back since earning the opening goal.
59 mins: Miedema gets into the box and takes aim for the far post but Kop gets down well to repel her effort.
57 mins: Walti tries to find Blackstenius on the edge of the box but McCabe gets in the way and tries to control the ball, only to see it bounce into the goalkeeper’s arms.
55 mins: Wubben-Moy loves coming out of defence carrying the ball. It is really helping Arsenal move forward quicker.
53 mins: Ajax will need to come out and force the issue here, which they have struggled to do thus far. Can they up it?
GOAL! Ajax 0-1 Arsenal (agg 2-3) (Miedema, 51)
That’s the breakthrough Arsenal have been hoping for. Miedema collects the ball from Foord, drives towards the area and drills a shot into the corner from 20 yards.
Updated
49 mins: Wienroither cynically takes out Pelova near the halfway line but the referee only awards a free-kick.
47 mins: Charles Antaki says: “The vibes aren’t feeling good for Arsenal – very little happening up front, with Ajax threatening on the break; if they get the first goal, then they will dig in even more and it’s probably curtains for the Champions League this year. Time for Beth Mead...”
Second half
Here we go again!
Half-time reading.
Half-time: Ajax 0-0 Arsenal (agg 2-2)
It is all pretty even but neither side has really troubled the opposition goalkeeper.
45 mins: Two minutes added on.
44 mins: Arsenal are certainly having more of the ball but are struggling to create much with it.
42 mins: Ajax try to clear but Spitse smacks the ball against Pelova’s head and it lands at Miedema’s feet. The Dutch international takes aim but her shot is always rising over.
40 mins: Rafaelle is making her way off with a limp. Not 100% what the injury is still. Wubben-Moy replaces her.
38 mins: Kardinaal and Blackstenius battle for the battle while running towards the Ajax byline. In the end the ball runs out of play and a goal-kick is rewarded.
36 mins: A shambles at the back as Catley passes the ball back to her goalkeeper but does not look to see where she is. Zinsberger is forced to turn and chase the ball to stop it going out for a goal-kick.
Down the other end … Blackstenius receives a pass from Miedema and spins to allow her to shoot but her effort is straight at Kop despite a deflection.
34 mins: The commentator on this stream is desperate to run through how many international caps each player has. He has done his research, fair play.
32 mins: Rafaelle is on the deck after a fair challenge from Grant. Not sure what the issue is. The Brazilian looks like she will carry on.
Spitse goes into the book for a foul on Blackstenius near the halfway line.
30 mins: Arsenal are controlling the ball in this phase, although it only amounts to Walti taking aiming from 30 yards. Unfortunately for the Swiss international her shot is blocked.
28 mins: Everything has slowed down …
26 mins: McCabe sends in a dangerous cross from the right for Blackstenius to attack but Kardinaal reads the danger and clears behind. The resulting corner is sent straight out of play by McCabe at the front post.
24 mins: Arsenal make it into the Ajax box once against but Doorn is in the right place at the right time to intercept the cross and clear.
22 mins: Miedema collects the ball 25 yards from goal, spins and eventually takes aim from the edge of the box but her shot lacks power and direction.
20 mins: Blackstenius tries to control a cross but it bounces her away from. The forward gets the ball straight back off an Ajax heel, turns and shoots for goal but her tame effort is smothered by Kop.
18 mins: Miedema slips the ball through to Wienroither who decides to shoot from an acute angle despite being off balance. Needless to say, the ball goes out for a goal-kick.
Zinsberger sprints off her line to intercept a long ball over the top but completely misses it. Luckily for her, so does Grant and the ball bounces behind.
16 mins: Leuchter dribbles at Williamson but the England captain holds her ground and nips the ball away from her opponent before clearing.
Arsenal look a little pedestrian here and already seem to be trying to force the issue with passes they are not capable of playing.
14 mins: Catley finds Blackstenius in the box but the forward fails to control the ball properly and Ajax have the easy job of clearing, made even easier when Catley miscues a pass out of play.
12 mins: There is thunder and lightning in the background.
Blackstenius sprints down the left to latch onto a pass behind the defence. She reaches the ball but then cuts back and plays a pass backwards to slow everything down, allowing Ajax to recover.
10 mins: Weerden gets the better of Wienroither and makes it into the box but she pulls her cross behind onrushing teammates.
8 mins: Noordam gets into the box and whacks a shot when off balance which is deflected over the bar for an Ajax corner.
Updated
6 mins: Ajax play a short corner and eventually work the ball into the box but Arsenal clear it without fuss.
The referee, from Spain, has a word with Van der Most after a late challenge on Walti.
4 mins: It is raining heavily in Amsterdam. It looks like the playing surface is pretty slick, that’s for sure. Miedema loses her footing but I am sure that is related to the pitch.
2 mins: Arsenal have started in positive fashion, already countering to the edge of the Ajax box before a crucial intervention curtailed the attack.
Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Updated
Sarina Wiegman is in the crowd. Very much a busman’s holiday for her.
“Mead on the bench - hmm,” emails Charles Antaki. “Eyebrows raised among Arsenal fans (and among what is probably Mead’s million-strong post Euros personal fan club). Presumably the idea is for Katie McCabe to beat them down into submission for 60 minutes and Mead to come on and saunter through to score a hat-trick?”
There must be a cunning plan.
In case you were wondering … tonight’s game is live on Arsenal’s official website in the UK.
This is what happened in the first leg …
Arsenal looked impressive at the weekend against Spurs. Admittedly, their local rivals helped them out by refusing to defend on the right-hand side. Mead and Miedema look in form and will be hoping to carry that on to night.
There’s a lovely rainbow above the ground.
Great forecast 😉🌈 pic.twitter.com/zWQLz82I9R
— Ajax Vrouwen (@AjaxVrouwen) September 28, 2022
Lessons to be learned for Arsenal.
Starting lineups
Ajax: Kop, Van der Most, Kardinaal, Doorn, Verhoeven, Spitse, Noordam, Pelova, Grant, Leuchter, Weerden
Subs: Bussman, Van der Wal, Munsterman, Tromp, Kruize, Keijzer, Hoekstra, Bakker, Van Gool, Sabajo, De Sanders
Arsenal: Zinsberger; Wienroither, Williamson, Rafaelle, Catley; Little, Walti, Miedema; McCabe, Blackstenius, Foord
Subs: Marckese, Williams, Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Martiz, Maanum, Nobbs, Iwabuchi, Mead, Hurtig
Updated
Preamble
Captain Kim Little says Arsenal “need to do more and need to be better” which sums up their situation going into their do or die Champions League clash with Ajax. A 2-2 draw at home leaves progression to the group stage in the balance but the Gunners will be confident following their weekend routing of rivals Spurs.
Arsenal were poor last week in the first leg, there is no doubting that but, at the same time, they possess quality throughout the team and those individuals will not want to be out of the Champions League before October. The Gunners will think they can go a long way in this year and elimination at such an early stage would be a huge failure.
Failure to make the group stage will be huge blow for Arsenal, especially by losing to supposedly inferior opposition. Ajax made it to the round of 32 in 2020-21 but did not feature last season so will feel another year without a foray in the competition proper would be underwhelming.
Let’s hope for a cracker.
6pm BST kick-off.
