Chelsea on Wednesday reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League despite a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax, while Olympique Lyonnais also progressed after brushing aside SL Benfica in France.
Mayra Ramirez put Chelsea into a first-half lead on her European club debut, before Chasity Grant equalized for Ajax in the second half.
Chelsea prevailed 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win in the first leg in Amsterdam.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Ajax did really well, they came out as we expected them to,” Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said. “Small margins in football, we could have put a little bit more away, give ourselves a bit more breathing room, but the job was really done in the first leg.”
Ajax nearly took the lead in the opening 20 minutes when goalkeeper Zecira Musovic had her clearance charged down by Tiny Hoekstra, but the ball rolled against the post and went agonizingly wide.
Just after the half-hour mark, Ramirez opened her Champions League account with a composed finish after being set free by Guro Reiten.
Now four goals to the good, Emma Hayes’ side looked set to cruise into the final four.
Grant put a dampener on the night for Chelsea when she ran on to Hoekstra’s through-ball and her slightly scuffed finish squirmed its way through Musovic.
With the score level on the night, Chelsea’s aggregate lead was insurmountable for Ajax, although Musovic did redeem herself in the final 10 minutes when she made excellent fingertip saves to deny Romee Leuchter and then Danique Tolhoek.
Earlier, braces from Delphine Cascarino and Kadidiatou Diani gave eight-time titleholders Lyon a 4-1 victory at the Groupama Stadium to claim the tie 6-2 on aggregate.
Marie-Yasmine Alidou equalized minutes after Cascarino’s opener at the end of the first half, but the 27-year-old hit a second shortly after halftime before two stoppage-time Diani goals gave Lyon a comfortable victory.
“There was a lot to be pleased about,” Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor said. “The comeback at halftime was beautiful and hurt the Portuguese mentally, but we had to be more clinical in the first half.”
Lyon created several good early chances, but failed to find a way past Lena Pauels in the Benfica goal until the 43rd minute.
Cascarino gave Lyon a two-goal buffer on aggregate when Eugenie Le Sommer chased down an underhit back pass, won her challenge with Pauels and then had the presence of mind to lay the ball back to the France international, who duly finished with a delightful chip over the stranded goalkeeper and two retreating defenders.
However, Benfica struck back instantly to reduce the deficit to one goal when Alidou bundled home Lucia Alves’ cross, following a sublime defense-splitting pass from deep by Kika Nazareth.
Lyon made two changes at halftime and the move soon paid off when Cascarino doubled up with a fine individual effort six minutes into the second half.
Picking the ball up in midfield, she drove forward before unleashing a powerful shot from outside the penalty area.
One minute into stoppage-time, Diani tucked away Lindsey Horan’s knockdown to cement Lyon’s spot in the semi-finals.
The margin of victory then became even greater five minutes later when Diani miscontrolled the ball and Catarina Amado’s clearance glanced off the French forward and into the net.
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
RSS