Manchester City Women 2, Chelsea 0 (UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter Final First Leg)
Vivianne Miedema scored twice in a 2-0 win to end Chelsea’s unbeaten record and give Manchester City a lead in the UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter Final first leg.
Chelsea were looking for a record 32nd unbeaten game across all competitions as a WSL side but City ended that attempt with a backs to the wall performance after Vivianne Miedema finished the chances that City could not in the first half.
City had a decent start with a pair of shots by Jill Roord testing Hannah Hampton as they pressed efficiently and defended well as Chelsea tried to get their passing game together.
But as Chelsea started to dominate possession they were up against a stubborn City side who were well organised, disrupted them where they could, and were fully capable of hitting them on the break.
It took until the 22nd minute for the visitors to register a shot on goal – a tame Aggie Beever-Jones effort after they managed to break through down their left flank but the resulting shot was easily collected by Ayaka Yamashita who also had a harder to save from Nathalie Bjorn.
Chances may have been few for both sides and both sides made changes at the break – Wieke Kaptein replaced Catarina Macario to try and curb the influence of Roord while Vivianne Miedema replaced Lily Murphy to add more goal threat.
Kerolin had a quiet first half but started show some of her individual skill with a run deep into Chelsea territory before finding Miedema for a chance that Kerstin Casparij hit wide.
Chelsea made a double change after 59 minutes with Keira Walsh and Lauren James replaced by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken.
But City made them pay from a corner after Chelsea failed to clear the danger and Hannah Hampton could not stop Miedema from opening the scoring from the rebound after Laia Aleixandri had hit the crossbar with a header.
Chelsea thought they had equalised in the 70th minute but the flag went up for offside against Mayra Ramirez.
And the visitors had become increasingly desperate managed to hit the crossbar through Rytting Kaneryd who found space but Ayaka Yamashita smothered the ball to prevent any followup.
With Chelsea overcommitted City found the space to score a second goal late on through Miedema’s precision strike giving them a decent lead for the second leg in London.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City Women 2, Chelsea 0 (UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter Final First Leg)
Ayaka Yamashita: 8. In the action early. Dealt well with a tricky Sandy Baltimore corner and collected efforts by Aggie Beever-Jones and Nathalie Bjorn. Some big clearances over the press and saves from Millie Bright and Wieke Kaptein to keep the clean sheet.
Kerstin Casparij: 7. Pushed upfield, shot wide in the second half and some good defensive work too.
Grace Prior: 7. Big game at the back. Defended without fear.
Laia Aleixandri: 8. Early shot over the bar, looked after Mayra Ramirez and defended very well. Big block to stop Lucy Bronze getting a shot off.
Leila Ouahabi: 7. Good pressure on Catarina Macario to prevent a better shot. Defensively solid. Frustrated that some of her passes didn’t come off.
Yui Hasegawa: 8. Seemed to have shrugged off League Cup disappointment. Anchored midfield together well and made key interceptions and blocks and a great passing repertoire.
Jill Roord: 6. Couple of long range shots saved. Was watched by Wieke Kaptein in the second half.
Jess Park: 6. Disciplined performance up against Keira Walsh.
Kerolin: 6. Not as involved as she’d like in the first half but carried the ball upfield in exciting run in the second half to try and set up Vivianne Miedema and looked more dangerous. One cross would have been meat and drink for the absent Bunny Shaw but she made up for that with the assist for Miedema’s second goal.
Lily Murphy: 6. Instant reaction on the break, had a shot saved by Hannah Hampton. Tracked back diligently but also gave Lucy Bronze a fright with her pace.
Mary Fowler: 7. Dropped deep to help with build up. Creative from deeper position and had a shot saved too.
Vivianne Miedema (on for Lily Murphy, 46): 8. Added goal threat and focal point for City in the second half and scored vital goal after an hour. Had a shot saved but made no mistake close to the end.
Laura Coombs (on for Mary Fowler, 64): 6. On to shore things up in midfield.
Laura Blinkilde Brown (on for Jess Park 74): 6. Added fresh legs to the left flank.
Naomi Layzell (on for Kerolin 90): no time to mark
GOALS – Manchester City Women 2, Chelsea 0 (UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter Final First Leg)
Man City Women 1, Chelsea Women 0: 60. Vivianne Miedema’s shot on the rebound broke the deadlock after Laia Alexandria’s header came back off the crossbar from Kerolin’s shot with Chelsea failing to clear the danger from Mary Fowler’s corner.
Man City Women 2, Chelsea Women 0: 89. Vivianne Miedema with a precision strike from 12 yards which beat Hannah Hampton and crept in at the back post after a layoff from Kerolin.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City Women 2, Chelsea 0 (UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter Final First Leg)
Man City Women: Yamashita, Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri (C), Ouahabi, Hasegawa, Roord, Park (Brown 74), Kerolin (Layzell 90), Murphy (Miedema, 46), Fowler (Coombs 64)
Man City Women Subs not used: Keating, Startup, Wienrother
Bookings: Kerolin 77
Goals: Miedema 60, 89
Chelsea Women: Hampton, Bronze, Bjorn, Bright (C), Baltimore, Cuthbert, Walsh (Nusken 59), Beever-Jones, Macario (Kaptein, 46), James (Rytting Kaneryd 59), Ramirez (Hamano 72)
Chelsea Women Subs not used: Spencer, Cox, Lawrence, Charles, Jean-Francois, Brown
Referee: Desiree Grundbacher (Switzerland)