UEFA Women's Champions League Match Report - Rosengard 0 Chelsea 1

Bayern Munich 2 Chelsea 1 (Chelsea win with agg. 0-4)

Chelsea Ladies are in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League for the first time after Ji So-Yun’s goal made it two wins out of two against Rosengard.

The Blues had done much of the hard work in the first leg and they finished the job off in style tonight with another convincing victory against the third-ranked team in Europe.

Chelsea had chances throughout but one goal was enough in the end, Ji the scorer following some fine individual work by Crystal Dunn.

This was another outstanding collective performance, though, and when European football resumes next year Emma Hayes’s side will be full of confidence having already knocked out two of the best teams in the competition.

The draw for both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals is on November 24, with the last eight matches themselves taking place in the final week of March.

Hayes opted to make a single change to the team that had won so convincingly in Kingston a week ago, bringing in Erin Cuthbert for Fran Kirby up front.

Our hosts also mixed things up in attack, with German striker Anja Mittag, the all-time UEFA women’s club competition scorer, selected to lead the Rosengard line.

The Blues started brightly on a cold night at the Malmo IP Stadium. Inside the opening 90 seconds, Ji bent a curling effort a fraction wide of the far post after good work from Ramona Bachmann, and it epitomised a confident first 10 minutes during which the Blues forced Rosengard onto the back foot.

The Swedish side would have wanted an early goal to try and get a foothold in the tie and they nearly got it at the end of a flowing move down our right, but thankfully for us Sanne Troelsgaard fired wide after Ali Riley had squared invitingly.

Cuthbert was proving a willing runner and when she was felled 25 yards out, Ji stepped up and brought a diving save out of Zecira Musovic between the Rosengard posts. From the resulting corner, played short, the keeper had to turn Bachmann’s dangerous, deep cross over the bar.

Chelsea chances kept coming before the midway point of the half had even been reached. Cuthbert and Bachmann combined to tee up Mjelde, who skewed her left-footed shot well off target, and shortly after, Ji’s goalbound effort was blocked.

On 33 minutes, with the game now evenly balanced, an unmarked Gilly Flaherty headed another well-worked corner wide.

It proved the final clear opportunity of a half the Blues had certainly had the better of, and we could perhaps count ourselves unfortunate not to be further ahead in the tie.

As it turned out, we didn’t have to wait long to take the advantage on the night and all but put the tie to bed.

The goal owed much to the pace and skill of Crystal Dunn, who tricked her way past her marker and into the box before finding Ji. The South Korean’s first-time finish took a slight deflection off Glodis Viggosdottir, which helped it past Musovic.

Rosengard now needed to score five but it remained the Blues who looked more likely. Bachmann blasted a whisker wide a couple of minutes after Ji’s goal, and Mjelde’s clever header drew Musovic into action again.

There followed a couple of minor scares for Hayes’s side but as has been the case for so much of this European, and indeed domestic, campaign, the defence held firm and picked up another clean sheet.

Bachmann had shone against her former club and it needed a good save from Musovic to deny the Swiss star from a similar position in which she had scored in the first leg.

On 75 minutes, Mjelde passed up two glorious opportunities to add her name to the scoresheet, first heading a free-kick over, and then finding herself one-on-one but thwarted by the busy Musovic.

The keeper tipped over a rising Kirby drive shortly after the former Reading striker had come on for Katie Chapman, but by now it was incidental with the job well and truly done.

All that was left to do was to celebrate another landmark achievement in Chelsea Ladies’ history.

Chelsea Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Thorisdottir (Blundell 62), Chapman (c) (Kirby 78), Mjelde, Ji, Dunn; Cuthbert (Carney 69), Bachmann.
Unused subs Telford, Rafferty, Spence, Aluko.
Scorer Ji 53
Booked Bachmann 67

Rosengard Musovic; Sorensen, Asante, Viggosdottir, Riley; Folkesson, Seger (c), Wieder; Troelsgaard (Hellstrom 78), Mittag, Landeka.
Unused subs McLeod, Sundqvist, Svensson, Torisson, Filekovic, Lyberg.

Referee Esther Staubli from Switzerland

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UEFA Women's Champions League Match Report - Chelsea 3 Rosengard 0

Chelsea 3 Rosengard 0

Chelsea Ladies take a big advantage into next week’s Champions League round of 16 second leg thanks to goals from Fran Kirby, Ramona Bachmann and Gilly Flaherty.
This win, which came on the back of the impressive victory over Bayern Munich in the previous round, was no more than the Blues deserved for a thoroughly commanding performance which only gave our Swedish opponents the occasional glimpse of our goal.
Kirby, the hero in Germany, converted one of a succession of first-half chances for a 1-0 lead at the interval with Bachmann netting midway through the second half for her first of the season, and Flaherty adding her goal soon after.
Emma Hayes made two changes from the side she fielded at the start of both legs against Bayern. Crystal Dunn and Ji So-Yun were the players introduced and the manager must have been pleased with her chosen side’s start on this chilly November night in suburban Surrey.

A succession of set-pieces inside the opening 10 minutes asked questions of the Swedes. From one of the corners won, Katie Chapman forced a flying save from Bachmann’s skilfully delivered cross but the pressure stayed on from the corner big time, with Maria Thorrisdottir forcing a goalmouth clearance and the crossbar struck from a deflected Ji shot. Flaherty almost scored from a goalmouth scramble and Bright’s and Thorisdottir’s follow-up goalbound shots were blocked. How the Blues did not score in that frenetic minute is anyone’s guess.
Bachmann, playing up front with Kirby, had an 11th-minute low shot saved and Thorisdottir headed onto the roof of the net after the flying Dunn had wriggled free and crossed from the left. These would be repeating patterns to the game.

The free-kicks kept coming and Chelsea were winning the aerial battles. Zerica Musovic saved a firm Chapman header before, on 20 minutes, Rosengard managed their first attack and it needed Dunn to hook the ball off the line from an Ella Masar header.

Chelsea responded with another assault on the Rosengard goal, skipper Chapman this time working the keeper with a dipping shot after a low effort from Ji had been saved a minute before. The Korean then showed her skill on 27 minutes to tease the ball into space inside the area but her shot with the outside of her boots was also saved by the busy Musovic.

The Swedes were surely not going to make it to the break with their goal intact and on 32 minutes, Kirby struck a shot that could not be saved. Maren Mjedle supplied the pass from deep that gave Super Fran the space to attack the backline which she needed no second invitation to do. She cut inside Ali Riley and scooped the ball low and left-footed into the far corner. A trademark finish. As in the Bayern tie, Chelsea had made a first-half breakthrough and at the same end of the Kingsmeadow pitch too.

The chances were there for a second goal before the interval. Millie Bright could not get the power she would have wished on a header from a Magda Eriksson free-kick and Kirby went close twice in the matter of seconds, the first with a stab shot and the second at the far-post after Dunn had destroyed Boye Sorensen on the byline.
It was 21 attempts on goal by Chelsea to the visitors two when the half-time whistle blew.
There was a contrasting start to the second period with Bright called upon to head off the Chelsea line after Hedvig Lindahl’s punched clearance had been returned goalwards. Our keeper then kept her composure to punch a deflected shot out from under her crossbar under heavy pressure. Chelsea were being asked to defend for a sustained spell for the first time in the game.
It was never likely to be 90 minutes domination against seasoned opposition in this competition but Hayes’s side rallied, and Dunn had a thumped volley from a Thorisdottir cross deflected wide of the Rosengard goal.
The visitors had only just made their first substitution when Chelsea doubled the lead. The move was simple and precise. Thorisdottir moved the ball onto Ji who found Bachmann on the left. The Swiss, who played for four years with Rosengard, found their net with a left-footed strike across the keeper.

The Malmo side were now up against it with 20 minutes of this first leg still to go, and the lead was soon 3-0. Ji had teased them inside their area in the build-up but it was Eriksson’s high ball in that was cleared only as far as Kirby. Her blocked shot fell into the path of Flaherty who had stayed up after a set-piece, and the centre-back turned it in.  

Eriksson went closest to a fourth goal with a thumping free-kick which needed a diving save.
There is still plenty of work to do in the second leg of course but the Blues have given themselves a great chance of making the quarter-finals for the first time. The match in Malmo is next Wednesday and will be live on Chelsea TV.

Chelsea Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Thorisdottir (Blundell 79), Chapman (c), Mjelde, Ji, Dunn; Kirby (Spence 79), Bachmann (Carney 83).
Unused subs Spencer, Davison, Cuthbert, Aluko.
Scorers Kirby 32, Bachmann 66, Flaherty.

Rosengard Musovic; Sorensen, Asante, Viggosdottir, Riley; Folkesson, Seger (c), Wieder (Mittag 66); Troelsgaard, Landeka, Masar.
Unused subs McLeod, Sundqvist, Hellstrom, , Torisson, Filekovic, Lyberg.
Booked Masar 16

Referee Bibiana Steinhaus from Germany
Crowd 1,861

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UEFA Women's Champions League Match Report - Bayern Munich 2 Chelsea 1

Bayern Munich 2 Chelsea 1 (Chelsea win with away goal. agg. 2-2)

A precious away goal from Fran Kirby proved the difference on a dramatic night in Munich as the Blues advanced to the last 16 of the Women’s Champions League on one of the greatest days in Chelsea Ladies' history.
And what a game it was! Leading by a goal from the first leg, it looked like Kirby’s superb strike on the hour would give us an unassailable lead, but Bayern hit back with two goals of their own setting up an agonising final quarter-of-an-hour.
Resilience, grit and last-ditch defending had been the order of the tie up to that point and there was plenty more on display as the clock ticked oh-so-slowly towards the game’s conclusion. A couple of further scares and more than six minutes of stoppage time later, and we had done it!
In the same city that our men’s team enjoyed their finest hour, the Ladies had done likewise and now have next week’s draw to look forward to. After these two performances, they will feel anything is possible.
Emma Hayes saw no need to make any chances to the side that had beaten Bayern a week ago. That meant six players returned after the boss had opted to rotate her squad at the weekend against Liverpool.
For the hosts, their head coach Thomas Worle made a single change from the last encounter, bringing in Mandy Islacker – a winning goalscorer for Frankfurt in the 2015 final - for Melanie Leupolz.
Play got underway to a constant drumbeat from the home supporters, watching their side at the ground Bayern’s men’s team played at between 1926 and 1972. There was also an impressive contingent of travelling Blues fans inside the 12,500-capacity Grunwalder Stadium, which currently also houses 1860 Munich.
On the pitch, it was, as expected, Bayern who started with the greater attacking intent. They delivered a series of low crosses early on, one of which Hedvig Lindahl successfully kicked away.
The first real scare for the Blues arrived shortly after the 20-minute mark. Lindahl palmed a fierce shot only as far as Islacker who volleyed narrowly over with the goal gaping.
Chapman, from much further out, went just as close midway through the half with a sweetly-struck left-footer that briefly had Manuela Zinsberger in the Bayern goal worried. Then Maria Thorisdottir got her head on a Ramona Bachmann corner at the back post but couldn’t quite guide it goalwards.

Between those chances, Gina Lewandowski was the first player booked, for dissent.

Chelsea had grown into the game by the half-hour mark and were keeping the ball much better. Bachmann wasn’t far wide with another testing long-ranger, and Magdalena Eriksson was the next to try her luck from range. The Swede’s brilliant piledriver from fully 30 yards out was met by an equally good save from the flying Zinsberger.
Dominika Skorvankova half-volleyed well wide with the final meaningful action of a tense opening period during which Hayes’s Blues had matched the determination and defensive solidity on display last week. You sensed plenty more would be required in the remaining 45 minutes – or potentially longer.
We were not able to make the most of a couple of promising counter-attacking opportunities soon after the restart and were nearly made to pay when Leonie Maier blasted wide at the end of a scramble inside the box.
Hayes used her first sub of the evening on 54 minutes, bringing Crystal Dunn on for Drew Spence, who had required lengthy treatment in the first half. Worle made a couple of changes of his own in reply.
On the hour, the moment arrived. And in some style! A Bayern move broke down and Blundell’s clearance fell Bachmann’s way a few yards inside her half. The Swiss star cleverly headed upwards, and then had the presence of mind to spot Kirby racing clear through the middle, and the ability to play the pass into the striker’s path.
Kirby still had plenty to do, and plenty of time to think about it as she bore down on goal. She took it a little wide but used the angle to her advantage, clipping an exquisite finish high beyond Zinsberger and into the far corner.
She darted to the dugouts to celebrate with Hayes and everyone else of a Chelsea persuasion with even Lindahl joining in.

Bayern now required three goals to score and they got one of those on 76 minutes after a sustained spell of pressure. Millie Bright had already made yet another superb block, and then sub Lineth Beerensteyn headed wastefully over, before the scores with levelled as we couldn’t clear a corner and Fridolina Rolfo stabbed home, despite sub Gemma Davison’s best efforts on the line.
We were down to 10 at that point as Blundell received treatment, and the left wing-back was immediately replaced by Karen Carney.
The story was the same for Bayern’s second seven minutes later, with Thorisdottir the player off the pitch getting treatment this time. Again a corner was not fully cleared and after Lindahl saved the initial effort, Lucie Vonkova bundled it in from close to the goalline.
Seven minutes plus a hefty amount of stoppage time remained. Could the Blues hang on?
It looked like Bayern would get a third when Beerensteyn got the better of Bright, wide on the left, and cut back invitingly to Skorvankova. The deflected point-blank strike deflected agonisingly wide.

Six added minutes were signalled but pleasingly much of it was spent in Bayern's half as we pressed them backwards. Lindahl claimed a couple of crosses and then, with more than the alotted time up, the final whistle went and the celebrations could start.

Chelsea Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Blundell (Carney 77), Chapman (c), Mjelde, Thorisdottir; Spence (Dunn 55), Kirby (Davison 63), Bachmann.
Unused subs Spencer, Ji, Cuthbert, Aluko.
Scorer Kirby 60
Booked Thorrisdottir 80

Bayern Zinsberger; Demann, Laudehr, Lewandowski; Maier (Beerensteyn 71), Behringer (c), Islacker (Vonkova 56), Faisst; Rolfo, Rolser (Leupolz 56), Skorvankova.
Unused subs Korpela, Wieder, Wenninger, Roord.
Scorers Rolfo 76, Vonkova 83
Booked Lewandowski 27

Referee Katalin Kulcsar from Hungary

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UEFA Women's Champions League Match Report - Chelsea 1 Bayern Munich 0

Chelsea 1 Bayern Munich 0

A Drew Spence goal early in the game was sufficient for victory in the Ladies’ first European outing at our new home of Kingsmeadow.
The result must go down as the best yet for Emma Hayes’s side in the Women’s Champions League, in what is the third season in the competition, and although we came under some heavy pressure from Bayern in the second half, and Hedvig Lindahl in goal had some busy moments, there was grit and maturity in the way we went about our business and no away goal was scored, so setting up nicely the Round of 32 second leg in Bavaria next Wednesday night.
Spence returned to the starting line-up in one of three changes from the big weekend win over Sunderland, for a game that was always going to be a true test of the team’s mettle. Maria Thorisdottir and Hannah Blundell were the others returning.

A year ago, at this stage of the tournament when the Blues faced another strong German outfit in the shape of Wolfsburg in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, we were 2-0 down by half-time and the tie was a long way to being over.
In comparison, Chelsea could be very happy with the first 45 minutes of this game. In front of a good crowd over 2000 fans, we won the early free-kicks and pushed forward from the off, and it was from one of those set-pieces that Thorisdottir headed the first half-chance of the game over.
From the first opportunity created by either side in open play, the Blues took the lead. It was a sweet passing move from halfway, with the scorer Spence involved early on. She fed Blundell who found Ramona Bachmann with a well-weighted pass, which was squared perfectly for a first-time finish from Spence. There were just under 10 minutes played.

Thorrisdottir, from more possession won by Spence, nearly carved out another opportunity as Chelsea looked to increase the advantage quickly with the Germans unsettled by that early opener.
On 18 minutes, Bayern did cause problems at the other end from a free-kick that was knocked down. Skorvankova hit the post.
Chelsea went close too moments later, when Millie Bright was subject to surprisingly loose marking by the Bayern defence and headed a Bachmann free-kick a whisker wide of the post.
There were scares for Chelsea when Melanie Behringer picked up a Bright header back towards her goal but fired over, and when Nicole Rolser reached a viciously struck cross and Lindahl had to tip the ball over the bar. Bayern were winning corners too. They were starting to gain the upper hand with the game a third gone.
Chelsea responded. Blundell found space and fed Kirby for a shot that was blocked.
The Czech referee was letting plenty of challenges go and no one could argue it was not an enthralling game. Hayes must have been pleased with the work-rate of her players as well as the lead.
The first yellow card was produced on the stroke of half-time when a typically forceful run by Bachmann ended with our Swiss international dumped on the Kingsmeadow turf by Simone Laudehr.

It needed Lindahl to save from close-range to prevent Skorvankova wiping out our lead very soon after the restart and then Rolfo headed into the hands of the Chelsea keeper from another good position. Lindahl continued to be the centre of attention when she was carded for taking time over a goal-kick.
Leupolz was the next to shoot, thankfully over but the Germans, as they had threatened to for a spell in the first half, had gained a grip on the game. It needed a great block from Eriksson to send an effort over our bar and Skorvankova headed the resulting corner wide.
Both sides made substitutions and both sides had attempts at goal around the 70-minute mark. Katie Chapman looped a ball onto the roof of the German net and Lineth Beerensteyn, who had just come on for the visitors, was wasteful in front of goal.
Crystal Dunn, back from injury, was one of the three substitutes brought on by Hayes and although Chelsea had been under plenty of pressure since the break, some steam by then had gone out of the Bayern efforts. No one went closer to scoring during the closing 10 minutes than Bright with a header from a corner.

Progress to the last 16 of the Women’s Champions League is now very possible for the WSL1 league leaders. The second leg is live on Chelsea TV.

Chelsea Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Blundell, Chapman (c), Mjelde, Thorisdottir; Spence (Davison 67), Kirby (Aluko 80), Bachmann (Dunn 74).
Unused subs Spencer, Carney, Ji, Cuthbert.
Scorer Spence 10
Booked Lindahl 54

Bayern Zinsberger; Demann, Laudehr, Lewandowski; Maier, Behringer (c), Leupolz (Roord 80), Faisst; Rolfo (Beerensteyn 67), Rolser (Vonkova 89), Skorvankova.
Unused subs Weimar , Wieder, Wenninger, Dabritz.
Booked Laudehr 45

Referee Olga Zadinova from Czech Republic
Crowd 2,136

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