Getty ImagesThe Lionesses striker was twice denied by the crossbar on Saturday, but Jonas Eidevall's side were able to progress to the next round despite that
You could almost hear the sigh of relief when the final whistle went and Arsenal secured their place in the second round of Champions League qualifying on Saturday night, by virtue of a 1-0 win over Rosenborg. The Gunners crashed out at this stage last season and so as long as that second goal continued to evade them, despite a dominant performance, the nerves were always going to build among the home faithful. Fortunately for them, an opportunistic finish from Norway international Frida Maanum was enough to break the hearts of the team from her homeland and put Arsenal into Monday's draw.
It was a positive start from Jonas Eidevall's side and, after warning shots were fired by Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo, Maanum opened the scoring with less than 20 minutes played, with a helping hand from some rather calamitous Rosenborg defending. The Norwegian side fell behind in their shock win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday but rallied late on to set up this clash and it was clear that their plan from this point onwards was to replicate that success. They rode their luck to stay alive in the game, though, with Russo hitting the crossbar and Maanum firing just wide before the break.
It was more of the same in the second half, with the only difference being that Rosenborg became increasingly more adventurous. That will have no doubt had the Arsenal fans getting a little more nervy as Russo again struck the woodwork and Kyra Cooney-Cross followed her lead seconds later, while Leah Williamson saw a header cleared off the line. But Maanum's early finish proved to be enough to move the Gunners on to the second round of Champions League qualifying, with them to find out their next European opponent in Monday's draw.
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