Arsenal opened their Women's Champions League campaign with a 3-1 first leg win away to Serbian side ZFK Masinac, reports BBC Sport. The Gunners made sure of victory late on in a hard-fought encounter watched by a hostile home crowd of about 2,000.

Late goals by Gilly Flaherty and Danielle Carter tipped the scales in Arsenal's favour after Marija Rodojicic had equalised Rachel Yankey's opener.

"We were well on top for the first 20 minutes and could have been four goals up," said manager Laura Harvey.

"But we let them back into the game and we got punished. It became a very competitive match and we could have ended up losing."

With a two-goal advantage and away goals counting double in the event of the tie being drawn on aggregate, Arsenal will be favourites to progress to the Round of 16.

But Harvey added: "We'll take nothing for granted against a young side who will never give up battling, but home advantage could be crucial.

"We were travel-weary going into this game after a 12-hour journey on the day before the match, and we've had to play in boiling hot sunshine on a dreadful pitch.

"Playing at home in October and on a far better playing surface will hopefully work in our favour - but this tie is not over yet."