Continental Tyres Cup Match Report - Bristol City 1 Chelsea 2

Bristol City 1 Chelsea 2

A last-minute Karen Carney penalty ensured Chelsea made it two wins out of two in the Continental Tyres Cup against Bristol City.

After a frustrating first half, the Blues took the lead through Eniola Aluko, who finished after brilliantly turning her marker. However, a late Millie Turner equaliser looked to have earned Bristol a draw against the run of play before Carney both won and converted a penalty in stoppage time.

It was a much-changed starting line-up to the one which took to the field against Brighton in midweek, with Maria Thorisdottir, Magda Eriksson and Maren Mjelde the only players to retain their place in the team.

Becky Spencer came in between the sticks and Thorisdottir, Gilly Flaherty and Magda Eriksson made up the back three. Hannah Blundell and Crystal Dunn filled the wing-back positions alongside a midfield three of Drew Spence, Mjelde and Carney. Aluko and Erin Cuthbert lined up in attack.

The first half was largely one filled with frustration for the Blues, as Bristol sat deep and offered little by way of attacking threat, but it could have been an altogether different story had we scored with our

Blundell was the creator, playing a deft cushioned pass through to the onrushing Spence. Having done the hard part of holding off the defender, the Blues No24 struck a powerful shot towards the far corner but it was brilliantly turned behind by Leach.

With space in the attacking third largely at a premium, Thorisdottir was happy to step out of defence with the ball to try and make something happen, offering another threat for the visitors, but it was one of our strikers who fashioned a chance on the quarter-hour mark. Aluko's movement to get in behind was clever and she very nearly caught the keeper out at the near post with a fierce low drive which kissed the woodwork on its way behind.

As the half wore on, and with the Blues struggling to find a way through, Mjelde and Spence both tried their luck from distance to no avail; the former's shot was well saved, while only a desperate block by a Bristol defender prevented Spence's effort from finding the target.

The Norwegian midfielder then came close to opening the scoring with two efforts in quick succession which displayed the all-round threat she poses in the final third. The first was a stooping header from a super cross by Carney that was brilliantly tipped wide by Leach, and the keeper then repeated the trick from a superb free-kick that was destined for the bottom corner.

All the frustration of the first half soon evaporated, however, as Aluko broke the deadlock within two minutes of the restart. With her back to goal, the Blues No9 received a pass on the edge of the box and turned her marker in one slick movement. With only the keeper to beat she made no mistake, clinically sliding the ball home.

Whatever the manager said at half-time had clearly had an effect on her players as suddenly there was far greater urgency in the attacking third. Both Spence and Carney were unfortunate not to double our advantage as both players hit shots into the sidenetting in quick succession, the former's possibly with a touch off the outside of the post.

That was Spence's last meaningful action of the game as she soon made way for Fran Kirby and in the 70th minute Hayes opted for a double-change at wing-back, with Claire Rafferty and Gemma Davison coming on for Dunn and Blundell.

However, Bristol made two substitutions of their own and it seemed to galvanise the home side into their best attacking spell of the match. Spencer was so nearly caught out by one effort and then had to be quick off her line to snuff out another, while the Blues defence were indebted to Turner directing a free header over the bar.

The warning hadn't been heeded, though, and the same player was on hand to finish at the second attempt after Spencer had brilliantly kept out her first effort.

Just as it looked like penalties would be needed to settle the game, as is now customary in the group stage of this competition, a driving run by Carney saw her taken out in the penalty box. The referee pointed to the spot and the same player picked herself up to send the keeper the wrong way.

Few could argue the result was undeserved, but even fewer could have foreseen the late drama at the Stoke Gifford Stadium. The Blues now move on to the first leg of our Champions League last-16 tie against Rosengard on Wednesday night at Kingsmeadow.

Bristol City Leach, Dykes, Brown, Kerkdijk, Arthur, Humphrey (Woolley 78), Daniels, Hemp, Allen, Turner (c), Biesmans
Unused subs Watson, Matthews, Fergusson, Palmer, Wilson
Scorer Turner 85

Chelsea (3-5-2) Spencer; Thorisdottir, Flaherty (c), Eriksson; Blundell (Davison 70), Spence (Kirby 63), Mjelde, Carney, Dunn (Rafferty 70); Aluko, Cuthbert
Unused subs Lindahl, Bright, Ji, Bachmann
Scorers Aluko 47, Carney (pen) 90

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Continental Tyres Cup Match Report - Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Chelsea 3

Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Chelsea 3

The Continental Tyres Cup campaign is off to a strong start thanks to Fran Kirby’s fourth goal of the season, Crystal Dunn’s third in two games and a late strike from Ji So-Yun.
Wednesday night’s game in Lancing on the South Coast was the first group-stage outing for the Blues in this competition and it proved a very comfortable one, even if it took until late in the game for the scoreline to reflect the balance of play.
Kirby had scored inside quarter-of-an-hour but after that, Brighton proved resilient despite being pressed back for long periods. Their resistance was broken inside the final 15 minutes by a sharp finish from substitute Dunn with Ji capping the performance inside added time. An outstanding Hedvig Lindahl save between those two goals ensured this was the sixth clean sheet in seven games this season.
There were seven team changes from the 6-0 win against Yeovil at the weekend but as is now guaranteed whichever 11 is selected, it was a strong line-up to face the WSL2 side.
The first incident of note was a yellow card shown to Millie Bright. Brighton’s lone striker Ini Umotong, who had already come off worse in one challenge with the Chelsea defender, was now impeded as she broke beyond halfway and a booking duly followed. It proved to be a rare hiccup in this Blues performance.
It was not long before Gemma Davison got Chelsea going with a run and cross, quickly followed by another cross from Maria Thorisdottir from the opposite flank which the Brighton keeper attempted but failed to catch but got away with it. Davison then set up Bachmann for Chelsea’s first shot but that cleared the crossbar.

Bright had a deflected shot saved as Chelsea pushed forward in numbers and it looked only a matter of time before the opening goal. That arrived with 13 minutes on the clock and owed a lot to Ji’s carefully delivered cross to the far post after a Davison shot was blocked. The ball across was half-cleared but only as far as Kirby who was not going to waste her first opportunity and smashed it in from an angle.

From a straighter position but five yards further out, the England international hit another sweet strike just a few minutes later and very nearly made it 2-0. This time the ball bounced off the top of the crossbar with Chloe Sansom in the Seagulls goal struggling to get to it.
Chelsea were increasingly dominating possession and making the home side work very hard as the game approached half-an-hour played.
Two goalmouth scrambles came close to doubling the advantage, the first when Chapman challenged for a Davison cross and almost bundled the briefly loose ball in, and then Claire Rafferty, making her first start of the season, had several bites at getting it over the line after a surging run and delivery by Bachmann, but a blockade of Brighton players somehow kept it out.

 

The Blues grip on the game was now vice-like, with Brighton pass after Brighton pass intercepted as they tried to play their way out of their defensive third of the pitch. Kirby was not far from scoring with her longest-distance shot yet as half-time neared but 1-0 remained the scoreline as the whistle blew for the interval.
Emma Hayes’ side picked up where they left off when the second half commenced, although Kirby will be disappointed with her shot when the Brighton backline made a hash of clearing a Rafferty cross.
A scything Davison run through the centre this time, leading to a Ji ball over the top, almost carved out a chance for the Spring Series Golden Boot winner, but the offside flag went up.
Chelsea kept on hammering on the big yellow wall across the home side’s penalty area. Umotong up front for Hope Powell’s side was very isolated, although she did run Lindahl close in a race for a loose ball after former Blue Dani Buet had charged down a clearance.
Dunn had come on by the mid-point in the second half and she hit her first shot over by some distance. Her next one would be unerring. Before then Mjelde’s stinging drive from over 30 yards out was heading into the top corner until a flying save by Sansom. Magda Eriksson then went close with a header from the corner that followed.
Finally, on 76 minutes, all the pressure paid off when Dunn was played in with back to goal but in space inside the area. In a flash the American international turned and smacked the ball high into the net, although we were grateful soon after for a great save by Lindahl to maintain the hard-won two-goal lead. Having been a spectator for so long, the Swede’s strong hand denied Umotong after she had stormed clear.

A corner at the other end inside added time completed the action for the night, as the ball fell to Ji and she struck it across the turf and into the bottom corner of the net for the 3-0 final score.
Next up it is the second game in this competition, away to Bristol City on Saturday.

Chelsea (3-5-2) Lindahl; Bright (Carney 71) Thorsidottir, Eriksson; Davison, Chapman (c), Mjelde, Ji, Rafferty (Dunn 63), Bachmann (Aluko 75), Kirby.
Unused subs Telford, Blundell, Flaherty, Cuthbert.
Scorers Kirby 13, Dunn 76, Ji 90+1
Booked Bright 2

Brighton (4-5-1) Sansom; Roe (Natkiel 73), Whelan, Ritchie, Perry (c); Thomas, Barton, Buet, Legg, Gibbons; Umotong (Somes 88).
Unused subs Gillett, Rafferty, Whelan, Taylor.

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