{"id":263977,"date":"2026-09-23T01:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T01:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/matildas-stars-shine-as-aussie-earns-potm-honours-late-drama-seals-arsenal-ucl-win\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T01:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T01:36:00","slug":"matildas-stars-shine-as-aussie-earns-potm-honours-late-drama-seals-arsenal-ucl-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/matildas-stars-shine-as-aussie-earns-potm-honours-late-drama-seals-arsenal-ucl-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Matildas stars shine as Aussie earns POTM honours; late drama seals Arsenal UCL win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross has started her Women\u2019s Champions League campaign on fire.<\/p>\n

The Australian was named player of the match as Arsenal kicked off their European campaign with a dramatic victory.<\/p>\n

Manchester City fought from two goals down to grab a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich on Tuesday to start their Women\u2019s Champions League season, while Mariona Caldentey was the hero as Arsenal left it late in their opener.<\/p>\n

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Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Bayern raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to Giulia Gwinn\u2019s early strike and a Kerstin Casparij own goal inside the first 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Beth Mead halved the deficit for the Women\u2019s Super League champions on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n

City looked set to begin the league phase with a loss, as Khadija Shaw was denied from the spot by Bayern goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic in the second period.<\/p>\n

But German forward Carlotta Wamser popped up with four minutes remaining to ensure the spoils were shared in Bavaria.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a game of two halves, I think. (The first half) was probably not good enough for our standards,\u201d Mead told UEFA.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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\u201cBut again we showed what the team is about, showed our character.\u201d <\/p>\n

Arsenal, the 2025 Champions League winners, made a faltering start to their bid to recover the continent\u2019s premier club title.<\/p>\n

Renee Slegers\u2019s side needed an injury-time penalty from Spain international Caldentey to nab a 1-0 win at home to Danes HB Koge.<\/p>\n

The Gunners looked certain to be heading for a goalless stalemate until new signing Selina Cerci went down in the box under Yukina Sakabe\u2019s 92nd-minute challenge.<\/p>\n

Matildas stars Cooney-Cross, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord all started for the Gunners.<\/p>\n

Cooney-Cross was dominant throughout the game, recording 103 touches and completing 74 of her 87 passes across 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

She was also named player of the match for her standout performance.<\/p>\n

Speaking post-game, Catley was happy with her side\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

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The Australian midfielder was at the heart of Arsenal\u2019s midfield throughout the Champions League clash.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty crazy last five minutes but that\u2019s football,\u201d said Catley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey defended great, we tried so many avenues to goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cCredit to the girls, they kept trying and Mariona was very calm in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sakina Karchaoui penalty inside the final 20 minutes ensured Paris Saint-Germain left the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano with a 1-1 draw after Felicia Schroeder\u2019s second-minute opener for Real Madrid.<\/p>\n

Inter Milan got the better of Swedish side Hacken 1-0 — Haley Bugeja\u2019s fifth-minute goal was enough to give the home side three points.<\/p>\n

A brace either side of half-time by Marit Bratberg Lund gave Benfica a 2-1 win at Juventus, despite the hosts scoring late through Alba Redondo.<\/p>\n

Defending champions Barcelona begin Champions League life in the post-Alexia Putellas era on Wednesday when they host Paris FC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross has started her Women\u2019s Champions League campaign on fire. The Australian was named player of the match as Arsenal kicked off their European campaign with a dramatic victory. Manchester City fought from two goals down to grab a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich on Tuesday to start their Women\u2019s Champions League […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-263977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}