Chelsea Women FC

Chelsea made it three wins out of three in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid at Kingsmeadow.  After a scoreless opening 45 minutes, Sophie Ingle and Erin Cuthbert scored the goals during the second half.  Afterwards, Emma Hayes described it as “a really mature performance from the team”.

Hayes made three changes to Chelsea’s starting line up from their win over Tottenham on Sunday with Niamh Charles, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Fran Kirby coming in for Eve Perisset, Jessie Fleming and Lauren James.  Real Madrid are third in Liga F and sat second in the Champions League group behind their opponents.  They had also knocked Manchester City out in an earlier round.

Chelsea started brightly with Fran Kirby having a shot pushed wide by Misa Rodriguez in 2nd minute. Charles then saw her cross land on the roof of net in the 8th minute.

Real Madrid’s first chance came in the 16th minute but Caroline Weir’s effort bounced through to Ann-Katrin Berger.  Four minutes later, Esther Gonzalez header well wide for the visitors.

The home sides next opportunity came in the 23rd minute but Erin Cuthbert shot over from around 25 yards.  At the other end, Millie Bright stopped a Real Madrid attack in the 35th minute.

Chelsea had the final chance of the first half in the 41st minute when Bright got a slight touch onto a corner but it went just wide.

Gonzalez had an effort deflected wide for the visitors in the 51st minute after ball had bounced around in area from cross.  Three minutes later, Real Madrid had another chance but Naomie Fuller’s shot from 25 yards was easily saved by Berger.

Chelsea’s first opportunity of the second half came in the 59th minute then a Reiten cross was headed by Sam Kerr into air but was caught by Rodriguez.

In the 67th minute, Chelsea took the lead when a corner was flicked on by Bright and Ingle headed in near enough on goal line to score her first goal in the Champions League.   Hayes was asked about Ingle’s form this season and said “She's been brilliant. She deserves a lot of credit for the work she's done. She pushed hard in pre-season”.  She also added that Sophie is a top professional.

Gonzalez had another effort for the visitors in the 72nd minute but this time the ball trickled into Berger’s hands.

Chelsea scored a second in the 75th minute, and what a goal it was!  Cuthbert collected the ball from a throw in on the right-hand side and sent in a cross/shot from near the corner flag that dipped over the goalkeeper and into the net.  Did she mean it?  When asked about the goal by the media, Emma Hayes said “of course, she meant every part of that top corner finish”. 

The Blues had a chance to extend their lead further in the 88th minute when a great ball found Charles who had got forward but sent her shot into side netting.

Real Madrid had the final opportunity of the game but a cross was caught by Berger as match went into stoppage time.  Chelsea remain top of their group after the win, now five points ahead of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

After the match, Emma Hayes was full of praise for the squad at the moment, saying “this team are on another level”, and describing them as “the best we’ve ever had”.  She also added that they have learnt from previous years and losing in the final.

Chelsea travel to Madrid for their next Champions League game on the 8th December.  Before that, they take on Leicester City in the WSL on the 3rd December at the King Power Stadium.

Line ups

Chelsea (4-3-3): Berger, Charles, Buchanan, Bright, Eriksson (c), Cuthbert, Ingle, Kirby (Fleming 56’), Rytting Kaneryd (James 56’), Kerr, Reiten (Carter 79’)

Unused substitutes: Musovic, Nouwen, England, Svitkova, Perisset, Abdullina, Cankovic, Akpan

Goals – Ingle 67’, Cuthbert 75’

Booked – James 69’

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Rodriguez, Kenti Robles, Sousa, Andres (c), Carmona (Nahikari Garcia 81’), Zornoza (Toletti 86’), Olofsson (Galvez 80’), Maite Oroz, Weir, Gonzalez (Moller 86’), Feller (Svava 63’)

Unused substitutes: Gerard, Fuente, Abelleira, Claudia Florentino, del Castillo, Lucia Rodriguez, Camacho

Booked – Gonzalez 57’

Referee – Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi (Italy)

Attendance – 3,336