Arsenal held off a furious late rally from Chelsea to move one step closer to defending their UEFA Women's Champions League title with a 3-2 aggregate win in the quarterfinals.

Chelsea applied intense late pressure in Wednesday's quarterfinal second leg at Stamford Bridge but Sjoeke Nüsken's goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time came too late as they sought to overturn a 3-1 deficit from last week's first leg.

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A matchup with either OL Lyonnes or VfL Wolfsburg now awaits Arsenal in what will be their ninth semifinal appearance.

For Chelsea, meanwhile, the wait goes on to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time. And there is likely to be plenty of frustration after hitting the post twice and forcing several standout saves from Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.

There was also controversy as Chelsea chased a second goal to take the game to extra time when Alyssa Thompson had her hair pulled by Katie McCabe on an attempted breakaway but the referee failed to award a red card or even a free kick.

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Amid her protests, Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor was shown a second yellow card and sent from the touchline.

There were two early wasted chances for Nüsken, and Thompson was also just off-target as Chelsea looked for that all-important early opener.

The Blues kept Arsenal at bay during a bright spell at the other end of the pitch, but Chelsea could not capitalise on any of their ensuing chances, including another attempt from Thompson, who could only lift the ball over the bar.

Arsenal looked more of a threat to start the second half when Kerr finally gave Van Domselaar something to do, forcing a fingertip save from the Dutch keeper with a long-range effort in the 53rd minute.

Arsenal thought they had put the tie out of reach when Stina Blackstenius nodded past Hannah Hampton, but it was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

It remained a game of near-misses for Chelsea when Veerle Buurman clipped the post from the rebound of a James effort and Van Domselaar came up with another massive stop to push Nüsken's header onto her post.

Nüsken finally found the finishing touch, rifling into the roof of the net in the fourth minute of stoppage time, too late for the hosts to find a second.

PA contributed to this report.