Real Madrid 1Chelsea 1
Any draw against Spanish giants Real Madrid is no mean feat, but Emma Hayes felt her side Chelsea’s performance was “as bad as any she’s seen” in the first half, as they had to wait for another week to secure their spot in the Women’s Championship. Champions League quarter-finals.
“Technically, I’ve never seen us give away the ball so cheaply. All parts of our game in possession have struggled,” said Hayes after the draw that kept his side unbeaten in Group A. forced to make two substitutions and if I have to be honest, nobody could have come out. We played very well, so we are disappointed. In the second half it was a great response from the team. We could have won in the end.
His side’s failure to win was largely due to a bizarre defensive error by their usually reliable goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who placed a weak goal directly at the feet of Real Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir on the edge of the box , allowing the former Manchester City star to open the scoring. Chelsea fought back to earn a second-half point after Guro Reiten’s penalty hit the post and then rebounded goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez for an own goal.
Sam Kerr could have scored a hat-trick for the visitors when the Australian striker hit two woodwork in the first half and was then held up by a fine close-range save in the closing stages of the competition. However, Hayes felt the draw was a “fair result” and with his team top of the pack, he concluded: “When you take away the emotion, that’s a great point.”
Chelsea’s qualification should still be relatively routine from this position as next Friday they face bottom team in their group, Albanian side Vllaznia, whom they beat 8-0 at Kingsmeadow in their October return fixture. Second-placed PSG travel to Stamford Bridge on 22 December to wrap up the group stage.
Match Details
Real Madrid (4-3-3): M Rodriguez 6; Andrés 6, Sousa 7, Galvez 6, Carmona 8; Barrage 7, Toletti 6, Zornoza 6 (Oroz 6, 74) ; Del Castillo 7, Feller 7 (Garcia 6, 90), Esther Gonzalez 6 (Svava 6, 61)
Unused subtitles: Gérard (g), Fuente (g), Robles, Abelleira, Florentina, Moller, L Rodriguez, Olofsson, Camacho
Yellow cards: of the castle
Chelsea (4-3-3): Berger 5; Carter 6, Buchanan 7, Bright 7, Eriksson 6 (Charles 7, 46); Cuthbert 8, Ingle 8, Fleming 6 (Kirby 7, 46); James 7 (Rytting Kaneryd 6, 77) Kerr 6, Reiten 8
Unused subtitles: Musovic (gk), Orman (gk), Nouwen, Angleterre, Svitkova, Perisset, Mjelde, Abdullina, Cankovic
Yellow cards: Carter, James
Referee: Kateryna Monzoul (Ukraine)
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