Barcelona punish Chelsea to take three-goal lead in Girls’s Champions League semi-final
Barcelona secured a decisive 4-1 dwelling victory over Chelsea within the first leg of the Girls’s Champions League semi-final.
The event’s main scorer, Claudia Pina, scored twice as Barca scored three objectives within the last 20 minutes to take a commanding first-leg lead.
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Chelsea’s objective got here from winger-turned-outside again Sandy Baltimore within the 74th minute, because the Girls’s Tremendous League leaders created few scoring possibilities.
Barca’s first scoring alternative got here within the tenth minute, when a shot grazed the hand of Chelsea defender Natalie Bjorn contained in the field. A video assistant referee (VAR) evaluate led to a penalty, however Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas was denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
The reigning Champions League title holders maintained an hermetic midfield press all through the half which Chelsea struggled to interrupt free from, leading to sporadic line-breaking balls performed in behind Barcelona’s protection, primarily to striker Mayra Ramirez, whose efforts had been rapidly and aggressively stifled earlier than she or another Chelsea attackers might create significant or threatening possibilities.
The visiting group’s first shot on track got here in stoppage time of the primary half from an Aggie Beever-Jones free kick however her effort was pushed out of bounds by Barcelona No 1 Cata Coll.
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With 10 minutes left within the first half, Putellas wrestled the ball free from a scrum within the midfield — which noticed a number of Chelsea gamers freezing play in anticipation of a foul being known as — and slotted a ball by means of to Ewa Pajor, who slid it previous Hampton to present Barca the lead.
The Catalan aspect tightened its grip on the sport within the seventieth minute, facilitating a fast-paced counterattack that carried Ona Battle all the best way up the pitch towards the top line. The low, pushed cross from the skin again was redirected into the again of the web by Pina, who had been subbed on 4 minutes prior.
However Chelsea had been to not be fully denied of their away fixture. 4 minutes after Pina’s objective, Chelsea and USWNT striker Catarina Macario switched a ball throughout the mouth of the penalty field to Baltimore, whose scientific and attribute left-footed end saved Chelsea within the match.
That revival was finally short-lived, as Barcelona defender Irene Paredes related on a nook kick within the 82nd minute and buried the ball previous Hampton together with her head, deepening their result in 3-1. And within the ninetieth minute, Pina deepened her standing as this event’s most prolific objective scorer, receiving a cross from Putellas and pounding the ball previous Chelsea’s again line to wrap the sport up.
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Barcelona, Champions League, UK Girls’s Soccer
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