Soccer
Vivianne Miedema played the role of super-sub by scoring twice to help Manchester City to a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
The result also saw Chelsea’s incredible 31-game unbeaten run come to an end, while it was also the first defeat a Sonia Bompastor since she took charge of the Blues.
City started the stronger of the two sides, with Kerolin firing off target just after a minute had been played before Jill Roord tested visiting goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
Nick Cushing’s side continued to push for the opening goal without reward in the first half, with the interim City boss turning to his bench for inspiration at half-time.
Miedema, on to replace Lily Murphy at the break, made an instant impact and put City ahead on the hour.
Following a teasing corner, Hampton produced a wonderful save to tip the ball onto the crossbar, only for Miedema to smash home the rebound into the roof of the net.
Chelsea offered little in the attacking third, but went agonisingly close to levelling the game late on when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s strike from a tight angle rattled the crossbar, before Wieke Kaptein’s effort was pushed away by goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita.
But, with two minutes remaining, Miedema grabbed her second of the contest with another fine finish, letting the ball run across her body before placing the ball beyond the grasp of Hampton to seal an impressive first-leg triumph.
It leaves Chelsea with work to do in next week’s second leg at Stamford Bridge as they continue their quest to win four trophies this season.
FULL-TIME | A win in the first leg!
2-0 #ManCity | #UWCL pic.twitter.com/CJTNytdy5v
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) March 19, 2025
Data Debrief: The streak is over
Heading into the game on Wednesday, Chelsea knew that avoiding defeat would set a new record for the longest ever unbeaten streak by a Women’s Super League team across all competitions, but they were comfortably second best against City in the encounter.
Though only ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) of 0.94 to Chelsea’s 1.08, the Citizens looked assured in possession and limited their opponents to very little throughout, something Bompastor has yet to navigate in her tenure thus far.
But City were helped by the introduction of Miedema, who took the game by the scruff of its neck to drag her side to victory. She ended the contest with team-high totals for shots on target (three) and touches in the opposition box (six).
The result also saw Cushing exact some revenge from their League Cup final defeat, with the two sides having won one game each as they prepare for their third consecutive meeting, this time in the WSL, on Sunday.
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