‘Not ideal’ for Arsenal to drop points after late mix-up, says Russo

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Alessia Russo conceded it was “not ideal” for Arsenal to drop points in a 2-2 draw with Paris FC in the Women’s Champions League, but hopes the goals keep flowing.

Arsenal had led 2-0 against Paris, but a freakish late mix-up ultimately gifted the hosts a late equaliser after they had pulled themselves back into the game.

Russo netted her first goal of the season just before the break, playing a neat one-two with Georgia Stanway before picking out the bottom corner.

Shortly after, Evelyne Viens hit the bar for Paris, who had created the better chances in the early exchanges, but Arsenal doubled their advantage five minutes into the second half with Stanway’s first goal for the Gunners.

Paris continued to prove a threat on the counter-attack, though, and halved the deficit in the 71st minute, with Clara Mateo rounding Misa to slot in.

But with five minutes left, Leah Williamson secured the ball with her hand to take a goal-kick, but the referee deemed that Misa had already taken it when passing it to her, thus awarding a penalty for handball, which Maeline Mendy converted in the 87th minute.

“I mean, not ideal,” Russo told Arsenal’s media channels about the dropped points.

“I think we lost control of the second half a little way before [the penalty] anyway.

“So, it’s about managing the game a little bit better. I also think the first half, and throughout the game, we had some really, really good spells, so now it’s about using that to push forward.”

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) September 30, 2026

Arsenal have now failed to win from 2+ goals up in the Champions League twice since the start of last season, having never thrown away that kind of lead between 2001-02 and 2024-25.

But despite the disappointing finish, one positive for the Gunners was Russo’s first goal of the season after she drew a blank in her first five outings this season.

“I always want to try and score and create, and yeah, it was about finding the half the yard to get a shot off, so I’m happy to do that,” she said.

“I think maybe [it’s] an area we’ve been not confident in the last few games, but I see it every day in training, the quality that we have.

“I didn’t think it was going to take us long. I think that it was nice to see that, but also just credit to all of us, the staff. We’ve been working really hard behind the scenes, really pushing, and we’ll continue to do that.”

While Arsenal failed to hold onto their lead, there were big wins elsewhere in the Champions League, with reigning champions putting six past Roma.

Caroline Graham Hansen netted a brace, as did Claudia Pina, with Ewa Pajor also on target, while a Shukurat Oladipo own goal completed their scoring in the 6-0 rout.

And Juventus ran out 3-0 winners over Hacken thanks to three second-half goals.

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