Sometimes the result is the least important thing. A roaring wall of red erupted behind the goal and players and staff on the bench spilled down the sideline as Arsenal scored late into extra time to retain their Continental League Cup title with a 1-0 win against Chelsea. But it was the news that the midfielder Frida Maanum was conscious, stable and talking to the medical staff that really mattered.
Maanum’s off-the-ball collapse deep into injury time as the game stood at 0-0, the player seemingly unresponsive and requiring oxygen, was hugely concerning. The stadium of a record 21,462 fans for the final held its breath for the almost 10 minutes during which she was being treated. She exited on a stretcher, news arrived that she was stable, and Arsenal charged forward, grabbing a 116th-minute winner through Stina Blackstenius.
Jonas Eidevall made one change to the team that defeated Aston Villa 3-1 win last weekend, with Blackstenius leading the line in place of Alessia Russo who had not trained in the week because of a bug.
Meanwhile, Emma Hayes made wholesale changes to the team that saw out a 1-1n draw against Ajax at Stamford Bridge to seal their progression to the Champions League semi-finals, with six players returned to the starting XI. Hannah Hampton was in goal and Niamh Charles, Melanie Leupolz, Sjoeke Nüsken, Lauren James and Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd were all back.
There is no love lost between the two sides, with Arsenal having secured an emphatic 3-1 win against their London rivals in the final last season to earn Eidevall his first trophy with the Gunners. The spoils this season have been shared in the league, with Arsenal having secured a 4-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in December and Chelsea having bitten back with a similarly dominant performance in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge, earning a 3-1 win. There was also some frustration that Chelsea’s drive towards a quadruple was being heralded as a first, despite the Gunners having achieved that historic feat in 2007.
As Hayes warned before the Molineux showdown, both league games this season were “over at half-time” with Arsenal 3-1 up inside 38 minutes and Chelsea 3-0 up by the 23nd minute. “You better show up from the off,” she said. “If you don’t, it can make it a little bit difficult.”
In Wolverhampton, the narrative was different, with both sides alert to the risk of being caught out and the game put beyond them early on. Arsenal edged the chances in the first half, with six shots to Chelsea’s two but possession was shared, 50% apiece.
The Blues had the first chance to go ahead, though, with James a constant threat, pinging a comfortable shot at the goalkeeper, Manuela Zinsberger. They had the ball in the back of the net in the 22nd minute too, with Mayra Ramírez’s rasping strike from 25 yards out evading Zinsberger, who perhaps should have done better, but a VAR check correctly ruled out the goal, Erin Cuthbert having pushed the ball into the path of the Colombian forward with her forearm.
Arsenal weren’t without chances in that period, Cloé Lacasse fired high and wide from distance before the disallowed effort and the Gunners began to stretch the Blues towards the close of the first half; Mead attempted to catch Hampton off her line but floated the ball on to the roof of the net, Lacasse had a shot straight at the keeper from a tight angle on the left, Maanum had an effort blocked in the box, and Katie McCabe forced a save from Hampton from distance.
There was a change for Arsenal at the break to concern Sarina Wiegman, the England Women manager, before the international break, with Leah Williamson off and Laia Codina on, but the game stayed tightly poised in the second half.
Ramírez had a shot blocked from a corner at one end and Lacasse found herself one-on-one with Hampton minutes later but the Chelsea keeper came out to meet her and make the save in a transitional end-to-end half.
The best chance of the half fell to the effervescent James, who raced free on the left with five minutes of normal time remaining but her effort snuck agonisingly wide of the far post.
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Into the fifth minute of seven minutes of added time and Maanum fell, collapsing off the ball, landing on her side. There was a lengthy pause while the medical team worked on the seemingly unresponsive player. Maanum was eventually taken on a stretcher down the tunnel.
Shortly after the restart the whistle went for extra time, giving the teams a further opportunity to regroup after a traumatic 10 minutes as news came in from Arsenal that Maanum was conscious, talking and in a stable condition.
There was little to separate the sides in extra time, Blackstenius went closest, she collected a ball played over the top within a minute of the second half but blazed over with only Hampton to beat.
Moments after Alessia Russo, on as a substitute, had shot straight at Hampton, Arsenal finally had the breakthrough. Caitlin Foord, also on as a substitute, evaded challenges on the left before pulling back for Blackstenius who turned and fired in.
The wall of red behind the goal erupted and the party began on the final whistle in style.