Arsenals

The fact it appears to be isolated errors which are proving costly gives Arsenal some hope that there is a clear path to reviving their campaign.

Captain Kim Little said after the match that the team “cannot always be perfect all of the time”.

“We’re in a lower space just now with the current form, but we’ll come back stronger. We go into our league fixture at the weekend for a big three points,” Little told Disney+.

Understandably, Slegers said her side are “not happy” with their form, but their experience which led to winning this competition last year gives them reason to remain positive.

They lacked a cutting edge in attack and only managed half as many shots as Lyon, but they also lost 2-1 to the French side in the first leg of the semi-final in this competition last year and bounced back to win the second game 4-1 in France.

There is no second leg this time, with this a group phase game, but Arsenal will look to rebound all the same at the first opportunity.

“The important thing is that we manage it really well and we give direction moving forward and stand strong,” said Slegers. “The positive thing is that we have strong foundation in a cultural perspective and a football perspective.

“We need to keep on believing in that philosophy and it gave us a lot last year. When it starts clicking, we know how good we are.”

Should they fail to beat Brighton in the league on Sunday (14:30 BST), they will have gone a month without a win.

“I think there’s lots to it,” Russo said of Arsenal’s slump. “I think, first and foremost, we need to look at ourselves and how we can push our standards. We’re sometimes letting teams get attacks on us by our own mistakes.

“We need to take accountability, we need to focus on what we can do to control that from everyone. It’s all across the pitch. There’s moments in that that were really positive so we’ll lean on that and get ready for Sunday.”

It was at the start of the game where Arsenal were at their best, getting an early goal and showing their attacking qualities, but they could not sustain it.

“In the first 20-25 minutes, they started the game [well], the goal that they scored… but it is fine margins,” added Smith. “And if you make a couple of errors against a top-quality side like Lyon, then they will punish you.

“In the final third, they just needed to be a bit better, more clinical. But certainly positives to take.”

VIKTOR GYOKERES’ penalty should not have been overturned. The Arsenal forward went through on goal and was fouled by Nick Pope.

Newcastle goalkeeper Pope got a touch on the ball but he did not win the ball. The touch does not negate the award of a penalty.

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Why did VAR get involved? It was not a clear and obvious error from referee Jarred Gillett. The on-field decision should have stood.

Gyokeres played it onto Pope, that is how he got the touch and then there is a late challenge and brings him down.

How many times do you see a foul given for a player that wins the ball and follows through?

The touch does not mean it is not a penalty. VAR should not have got involved.

We saw this last season at Brighton when William Saliba was adjudged to have committed a foul on Joao Pedro after he headed the ball.

Newcastle then wanted a penalty of their own late on after Anthony Elanga’s cross struck Gabriel’s arm inside the box.

But Gillett got this right. It was not a penalty.

It was a blocked tackle, it came back off Elanga and hit Gabriel’s arm, which was in a natural position.

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When you go to ground, where else can your arm go? Your arm has got to be in the air.

And look at the pace of the ball and the close proximity.

I would have been amazed if Gillett would have recommended a review.

The challenge for Dowman is to remain grounded as his profile grows and the excitement over his potential builds.

“For Max and his family and friends, I’m sure they’re all living in a dream and a fairy tale and it probably hasn’t hit home yet,” Rooney said. “But you can see his future is so bright, he is going to have a massive future.

“Everyone you speak to in football, the same name keeps coming back: Max Dowman.

“It’s difficult for anyone. I think the first thing you’ve got to do is just stay around your family and close friends.

“Listen to them because there are going to be people out there who are trying to be your friend or trying to get in touch with you – some for good reasons, some for not so good reasons.

“You just have to make sure the people who are closer to you, you stay around them and listen to their advice rather than outsiders.”

As well as stepping up on the pitch, Rooney says there are also adjustments off it for a young player breaking into the first team.

“It’s surreal. It’s so strange that one minute you’re in the youth team and the next you’re in the first-team dressing room with some of your heroes,” Rooney said.

“For me, it was some of my heroes growing up, then we’re training, we’re playing, we’re becoming friends.

“I was around at Duncan Ferguson’s house. He lived on the same road as me, and I’m just chilling with him and Alan Stubbs. And you’re like, ‘what is going on here?’.

“It’s something you really need to get used to quickly because it can be overwhelming.

“Max Dowman looks like a very level-headed lad from everything I’ve seen and you hope he manages to deal with it and understands what’s coming his way very soon.”

Rooney’s main words of advice for Dowman come from the heart.

“Enjoy it. I’m sure we’re going to see so much of him, so much of his talent and goals and assists, whatever,” he said.

“Alan Stubbs always said to me years ago, ‘make sure you enjoy it because it goes very quickly’.

“When you’re young, you don’t think that or you sometimes forget that, but enjoy it and make the most of it.”

Watch the Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube,, external and iPlayer. Listen on BBC Sounds.

LEAH WILLIAMSON urged Arsenal to keep on winning silverware following fans’ raucous celebrations of their Champions League triumph.

Like fellow club icons Tony Adams and Thierry Henry, the Gunners star wants to be remembered for major trophies wins as well as loyalty to the team.

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Williamson, who broke down in tears after her side’s Champions League final defeat of Barcelona, joined team-mates for a public celebration of their triumph at the Emirates today. 

The centre-back put in one of her best performances of her career as Spain’s club football queens were shutout during their clash in Lisbon, Portugal on May 24.  

Her efforts helped her side secure Arsenal’s second Women’s Champions League trophy win following the club’s first triumph in 2007. 

And the lifelong Arsenal fan wants her legacy to be about loyalty combined with winning the biggest prizes with the Gunners. 

Williamson said: “You have to win trophies and I’m so proud of what we do off the pitch, who we are, how we lead and how we carry ourselves. 

“I’m so proud of that but I want to win and Arsenal should be winning.

“I’ve looked at that legacy all my life and I’ve been aware of that and I wanted to contribute to it. 

“I don’t want to end my career just being loyal.

“Loyalty is great but loyalty with trophies is just something else.

“This week I’ve spoken to Tony Adams and Thierry Henry, people I watched (when I was young). 

“They were incredible and they won and that’s why they are remembered the way they are. 

“I’m proud that we’re the only team in the land (to have won the Women’s Champions League). 

“Anybody that’s Arsenal – red and white – is going to have a summer to remember.”

This morning thousands of fans flocked outside the Armoury in front of the stadium as  Williamson and her team-mates held their European trophy aloft. 

And Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe had supporters cheering following her leading expletive laden chants concerning rivals Tottenham

After a mix of lighthearted and moving short speeches delivered by several players and head coach Renee Slegers, Williamson shared her reflections on her team’s success. 

And she paid a touching tribute to skipper Kim Little, who is currently the team’s long-serving player having made more than 300 appearances.

Williamson added: “If you look at this celebration today, the turnout and what we’ve done over the last couple of years, this is the stuff that makes you stay. 

“(After our win) I dropped to my knees because of the tears and then I went to look for Kim. We were just sobbing.

“Kim Little is everything I would want to be as a person.

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“I’m just glad (for her) because you don’t get recognised sometimes and that’s unjust.  

“You need to win trophies and to win the biggest things to get what you deserve. Kim deserves everything.

“People had the game of their lives and I genuinely don’t know if anyone (on the team) that put a foot wrong in terms of the game plan and what it was meant to be.”

Little and England captain Leah Williamson were two of the Gunners best players in Portugal and they jointly lifted the trophy amid the celebrations on the pitch.

For Williamson, who held the Women’s Euros trophy aloft three years ago following England’s 2-1 win over Germany at Wembley, it was a special moment at the club she has always supported.

When Arsenal won the title in 2007, a 10-year-old Williamson had been one of the mascots for the second leg match against Swedish side Umea.

“Eighteen years is a long time to wait for something,” said the now 28-year-old. “I’ve won every domestic trophy with Arsenal now so on a personal level I’m proud of that.

“We turned up to try and do a job and we did it and we’re taking the trophy home. I have a rule not to look at the scoreboard and I broke it three times.”

Barcelona, who won the competition in each of the past two seasons, put Arsenal under pressure for large parts of the final.

However, the 67th-minute introduction of Beth Mead and Blackstenius proved crucial as the England forward set up the Swede to score the winning goal.

“A lot of happy tears,” said an emotional Mead, who celebrated with her family. “I’m proud of being able to do what we did and see my dad at the end.

“It’s been a rough few years, obviously missing my mum [who passed away in January 2023] and it’s the first time I’ve had a big final without her being here. She very much was watching over me.”