Unsurprisingly Chelsea Women were very wary of Manchester City in their trip to the Academy Stadium in Manchester tonight. And so were the hosts, unwilling to let the Blues put an end to a 16-match unbeaten streak with 15 (regular time) victories started right after they lost the season opener to us at Stamford Bridge.
Either side couldn’t give an inch to the other, and midfield battles abound. However Chelsea did get the edge in attacking volume, earning corners left and right as City tried to keep us from opening the scoreline after dominating offensively in the initial minutes of the match.
The barrage of set-pieces bore fruit. Sandy Baltimore sent the ball back to the far post after City cleared her corner kick, and she found Wieke Kaptein in the process. A good headed goal to get things going for the Blues.
Vivianne Miedema nearly equalised for the hosts before the end of the first half. Luckily she hit the post instead, and we went back to the tunnels in the lead.
It was a big risk holding onto a one-goal lead away at Manchester City. That’s what we did anyway, with Hannah Hampton and the defensive line putting on some work in the second half to pull us through to yet another final.
Carefree!
- It’s a 3-4-3/3-5-2 with Sam Kerr and Alyssa Thompson up top.
- Like her or not, Wieke Kaptein does score some crucial goals for us.
- Sometimes you need to hold the fort down. And that’s what we did in this second half.
- Next up: Arsenal at home in the Women’s Super League.
- KTBFFH!