ARSENAL WOMEN forward Vivianne Miedema was taken off on a stretcher in tears after suffering a serious knee injury against Lyon.
The disastrous moment marred the Gunners booking their place in the Champions League quarter-finals despite falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to the French champs.
The only goal of the game came in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Danielle van de Donk’s effortwas deflected into her own net by Frida Maanum.
However, that was not the headline story from the evening at the Emirates Stadium.
Dutch attacker Miedema, 26, went down clutching her knee after falling awkwardly while stretching for the ball just before the break.
She received treatment on the pitch and was eventually carried off on a stretcher in tears.
Her partner and team-mate Beth Mead, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament damage last month, watched Miedema receive treatment on the pitch and then accompanied her down the tunnel.
The loss of the club’s two star forwards is a huge double blow for the Gunners who face Zurich away in their final Group C game next Wednesday.
Speaking after the game, Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said: “I haven’t spoken to Vivianne or the doctor.
“Right now I am very concerned of course, but we had to stay focused during the game. I’m sorry I don’t have any update at all on that situation.
“We are concerned but we are super professional. We don’t let anything take away our focus.
“We stick with what we need to do in the match and that we go to Zurich and we win and we remain number one in the group. That’s important.”
Van de Donk, a compatriot and former Arsenal team-mate of Miedema’s, was also worried during a brief half-time interview.
She said: “I feel very sad for her because you don’t wish that on anyone. It doesn’t look good so my thoughts are with her.”
Miedema has scored 114 goals in 132 games since joining the Gunners back in 2017.
She is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world and will be a major miss for Arsenal – who sit three points behind league leaders Chelsea in the WSL table, with a game in hand.
In the match against Lyon, Arsenal came into it needing to avoid a loss of at least four goals or more in order to reach the Champions League knockout phase.
Lotte Wubben Moy came close to heading the hosts in front from a 23 minute corner-kick after Caitlin Foord’s cut back was walloped out of play.
And Foord narrowly missed a chance to get on the end of Katie McCabe’s curled delivery a quarter of an hour later.
A defensive lapse saw the visitors take the lead close to half-time with Maanum unwittingly turning the ball into her own net after it was struck by Van de Donk after a free-kick.
But the finish looked like it was offside with Melvine Malard seeming to interfere with play.
And then disaster struck as Miedema collapsed down on the turf and was subsequently stretchered off.
The second half saw centre-back Rafaelle Souza enter the fray for Eidevall’s side following the loss of Miedema.
And Maanum came close to getting on the end of McCabe’s cross in the 60th minute, moments after Eugenie Le Sommer drilled a shot directly at Gunners keeper Manuela Zinsberger.
The hosts’ push for a leveller saw the game end frantically with Eidevall sending Zinsberger into the box for the final corner kick.
But Lyon held out to claim a win that saw them go second in the group and level on points with the Gunners.
