Aulas praises 'exceptional' Lyon

Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas has hailed his club's female team after they knocked out holders Arsenal LFC to reach the UEFA Women's Cup semi-finals at the first attempt.

'Exceptional spirit'
The Lyon women's side were only set up three years ago and won their first French title in 2006/07. But having stormed through the early rounds they met their first big test in Arsenal, a team unbeaten in nearly two years. Lyon held the Gunners 0-0 at the Stade de Gerland, then excelled in Wednesday's return as Faris Benstiti's players came from behind to win 3-2 in England and earn a spring semi-final against Umeå IK. Aulas said: "They put on a great performance. They showed exceptional spirit and I want to thank Faris Benstiti and his staff."

'Second best'
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Vic Akers is coming to terms with the loss of their European crown. "Everyone is disappointed but if we are honest with ourselves, I think we were second best," he told arsenal.com. "Each year it gets harder and we did incredibly well to do what we did last season. But I think we had a different way about us last year – we were more up for games than we were tonight. At the end of the day, this team have been preparing for this title and I think they will give Umeå a good run over two games."