Arsenal edged a victory 20 seconds from the end of this Champions League tie but it was a harsh outcome for a Glasgow City side who restored their reputation and might easily have won on the night.
Unlike the first leg, this was a match worthy of the billing, but with a 3-0 lead from the first leg Arsenal took their place in the quarter-finals for a 12th successive year. The consolation for City was knowing they had matched the fourth seeds and given themselves something to build on. "I'm very proud of the players - they left nothing out there," City head coach Eddie Wolecki Black said. "There was determination to show we are far better than we showed on Saturday and we certainly did that."
"We created more chances and I thought we were going to nick it near the end - then they got the goal. What we have done is show we can compete against the best clubs."
City did not manage a single shot on target on Saturday, yet to the delight of the sell-out crowd they scored after only 90 seconds. Jess Fishlock's corner was met at the near post by Suzanne Lappin, leaving Arsenal goalkeeper Emma Byrne beaten before she had made a save in the two ties.
City have made four enforced changes, and one of the new faces, Denise O'Sullivan, set the tone. Not that she was alone, and even the loss of a goal - more or less ending their hopes of overturning the deficit - did not dampen City's much improved performance. It was a goal Arsenal needed to settle them and it came out of nowhere when Rachel Yankey cut in and fired past Lee Alexander from 25 yards.
From then on, the game was about pride. City continued to perform admirably but, after 69 minutes, Arsenal took the lead on the night. Midfielder Jordan Nobbs latched on to a clearance and slipped the ball past Alexander from just inside the box. The City goalkeeper then saved her side from further damage with a fine smothering safe from Kelly Smith, who had come on as a substitute minutes earlier.
Despite this purple patch for Arsenal, the home side got back on level terms 11 minutes from the end. Fishlock had troubled the visitors defence twice in the first half with free kicks sent in at pace and this time City captain Rachel Corsie met the set piece with a downward header which beat Byrne.
The home side had three good chances to take the lead again, the best of them by substitute Lisa Robertson forcing Byrne to turn the ball off the woodwork for a corner. But then, with just seconds remaining, Arsenal scored a third. Kim Little did the spadework and Alex Scott smashed her low cut back into the roof of the net.
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