MAN CITY WOMEN 3, FIORENTINA FEMMINILE 0
An avalanche of goals failed to materialise, but Manchester City still took a giant step towards the quarter finals of the Women’s Champions League.
A three-goal cushion from the first leg of their round of 16 tie against Fiorentina Femminile ought to be sufficient to progress to the last eight when they travel to Italy next week.
City made a whirlwind start scoring twice through Lauren Hemp and Ellen White in the opening three-and-a-half-minutes.
And they could have been out of sight as they overpowered Fiorentina in the opening 10 minutes when it looked as though City would amass an impressive goals tally.
Amazingly it was not until the 89th minute that Sam Mewis added a third goal as Fiorentina, to their credit, displayed grit and determination not to be swept away after an horrendous opening.
But it would take an amazing turnabout in their fortunes if they were to prevent City progressing as they look to reach the semi-finals for a third time since 2017.
White believed City could have done better, but overall was satisfied.
She said: “If you gave us 3-0 before the game we would have taken it.
“We would snapped off our hands for three goals and a clean sheet, but there are things we can improve on.
“They played five at the back so we had to be patient and diligent in the way we played and be patient.
“At times we probably rushed things and that is something to work on, but overall we are pleased with the performance.”
City manager Gareth Taylor was happy with the way his side managed the game.
He said: “The third goal makes a big difference and I was impressed with a lot of things.
“May be we forced play a bit and came off the hymn sheet, but winning 3-0 in the Champions League is a real positive.”
City made two changes from their 4-0 weekend win at Birmingham City as Abby Dahlkemper and Georgia Stanway replaced Esme Morgan and Mewis.
Khiara Keating, 16, found herself on the bench as back-up goalkeeper following the departure of Karen Bardsley.
Dahlkemper, Mewis, Rose Lavelle and Janine Beckie have all only just returned from international duty at the SheBelieves Cup so Taylor is only using them sparingly for the moment.
The Italians had former City midfielder Tessel Middag in their side along with ex-Arsenal defender Louise Quinn.
City made an electrifying start and were 2-0 ahead in only three-and-a-half-minutes.
Only 97 seconds had been played when Hemp found the net with a spectacular header from Chloe Kelly’s cross.
And it got better when Hemp turned provider with an assist for the second, a cross from the left which White, lurking at the near post, fired high into the roof of the net.
City continued to carve out chance after chance and it was clearly going to be a tough evening for Fiorentina whose goalkeeper Katja Schroffeneggar made good saves in quick succession to deny Kelly and Georgia Stanway.
White also headed narrowly over, and all this inside the opening 10 minutes.
Unsurprisingly it was impossible to maintain that relentless pace and it was not until midway through the half when City had the next chance to extend their lead when White was denied by a decent stop by Schroffenegger.
Hemp had a chance late in the half to go further ahead but shot narrowly wide from Kelly’s cross as City ought to have left the field with a wider margin than 2-0.
Fiorentina’s first clear-cut chance of the match came in the 51st minute when Frederikke Thorgersen broke clear on the right but curled her shot wide, a warning for the hosts.
Midway through the half, Taylor made a triple change as he summoned big-hitters Mewis, Lavelle and Morgan as Dahlkemper, Hemp and Caroline Weir were withdrawn. Lavelle was player of the tournament at the SheBelieves Cup.
And Mewis added a third goal in the 89th minute, heading home a Kelly cross at the far post to give City a margin of victory their overall play deserved and which makes the second leg a little less of a challenge next week.