Arsenal stuns 8-time champ Lyon with 4-1 away win to reach Women's Champions League final

Arsenal stunned Lyon with a 4-1 away win to reach the Women’s Champions League final at the eight-time champion’s expense on Sunday.

Lyon, previously unbeaten across all competitions this season, won the first leg of their semifinal 2-1 in London last week. But goals from Mariona Caldentey, Alessio Russo and Caitlin Foord – after an own-goal from Lyon goalkeeper Christiane Endler – gave Arsenal a 5-3 win on aggregate and set up a showdown with defending champion Barcelona in the final.

Barcelona had earlier routed Chelsea 4-1 – after also winning 4-1 in the first leg of their semifinal match – to book its place in the final at Lisbon’s 50,000-capacity Estádio José Alvalade on May 24.

But the Catalan side won’t relish playing an Arsenal team that seems to relish adversity, with the London team coming from behind in both the quarterfinals and semifinals after losing first legs against Real Madrid and now Lyon.

The French team was hoping to avenge its final defeat to Barcelona last year as it tried reaching the final for a record 12th time. It never looked likely as Arsenal attacked from the start and only conceded late when Melchie Dumornay pulled one back in the 81st minute.

Endler made a brilliant early save to deny Kim Little, but the visitors scored from the resulting corner when Chloe Kelly’s delivery was headed by Lyon defender Damaris Egurrola off Endler’s back from where it rebounded in.

Caldentey struck a brilliant shot from distance inside the top right corner before halftime, and it got worse for Lyon after the break with Russo surging through Lyon’s falling defenders to make it 3-0 within a minute of the restart. Foord capitalized on another slip in the Lyon defense to seal the win in the 63rd.

It meant Lyon conceded more goals in one game than it had in the entire Champions League all season.

For Arsenal, the only English team to win the competition, it will be a first final appearance since beating Umeå for the trophy in 2007.

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Lyon's Damaris Egurrola and Ellie Carpenter, right, react at the end the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Caitlin Foord and Lyon's Ellie Carpenter, background, eye the ball during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal goalkeepers Manuela Zinsberger, left, and Daphne van Domselaar celebrate after defeating Lyon 4-1 in their women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey, left, celebrates after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Damaris Egurrola, 2nd right, heads the ball before Lyon goalkeeper Christiane Endler deflects the ball into her own goal to give Arsenal the opening goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates with Caitlin Foord, right, after scoring her side's third goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Caitlin Foord celebrates with Mariona Caldentey after scoring her side's fourth goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Caitlin Foord scores her side's fourth goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Alessia Russo, back to camera, celebrates after scoring her side's third goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Alessia Russo celebrates with Caitlin Foord, right, after scoring her side's third goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arsenal's Alessia Russo scores her side's third goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Olympique Lyonnais and Arsenal at OL Stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s home secretary on Wednesday urged the head of one of the country's leading police forces to resign following a report on how fans from Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were banned from a match against Premier League side Aston Villa in Birmingham last year.

Shabana Mahmood told lawmakers that the independent report found “a failure of leadership” on the part of West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, adding that he "no longer has my confidence.”

The ban came at a time of heightened concerns about antisemitism in Britain following a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue and calls from Palestinians and their supporters for a sports boycott of Israel over the war with Hamas in Gaza.

The decision to ban Maccabi fans from the match with Aston Villa on Nov. 6 was widely criticized, including by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

West Midlands Police said at the time it had deemed the match to be high risk “based on current intelligence and previous incidents,” including violence and hate crimes that took place when Maccabi played Ajax in Amsterdam last season.

Guildford did not immediately comment on the report Wednesday but West Midlands Police said “mistakes were made” without mentioning its chief constable.

Mahmood said the report by the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, found that West Midlands Police had overstated the threat posed by Maccabi fans while understating the potential risks to them, and “conducted little engagement with the Jewish community" before a decision was taken.

She said the report noted that "the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans.” The report did not find the police force was antisemitic.

Mahmood also noted a police reference at the time to a nonexistent match between Maccabi and Premier League side West Ham in 2023, which was deemed to be an “AI hallucination.” Guildford previously denied that AI was to blame for that error but apologized for it Wednesday ahead of the report’s publication.

Mahmood said she didn't have the power to fire Guildford as a result of a policy change by the previous Conservative government in 2011, but she was looking to reinstate that power to home secretaries. Currently, locally elected police and crime commissioners have that power.

Simon Foster, the West Midlands commissioner, acknowledged the “significant strength of feeling” surrounding the controversy and said he would seek further answers from Guildford at a public meeting on Jan. 27 of his accountability and governance board.

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, is reflected as Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood speaks to members of the Jewish community at the Community Security Trust (CST) in north west London, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Carlos Jasso, Pool Photo via AP, file)

FILE - Maccabi Tel Aviv's fan is escorted by police ahead of the Europa League soccer match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham, England, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, file)