So there we go: Lyon will play Barcelona in the Champions League final. Thanks all for your company - ta-ra.
Chelsea were outclassed by Wolfsburg at this stage last season but this was a much better effort from them - the problem being that they’re not going to qualify for another go. They need to go away, get better, and try to regain the league title next season, while Lyon will know that they can be beaten - Barcelona will have watched that tie and seen nothing to fear.
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Lyon 2-3 (agg)
And there is it! Great effort from Chelsea, but it’s Lyon who face Barcelona in next month’s final, where they’ll look to win their fourth consecutive Champions League and their third treble in four seasons!
90+6 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Ji, who’s been quiet in the second half, pushes forward and finds Mjelde ... this is it ... she humps into the box ... AND BOUHADDI CLAIMS!
90+5 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Lovely exchange of passes between Kirby and England after Spence wins a header, and what a cross Kirby delivers, between keeper and back-four ... but no one’s on-hand to finish!
90+4 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Carney crosses and England goes up with Bronze, but arm whacks face and that’s a foul.
90+3 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Chelsea have five up front now, and Kirby pumps into the box seeking Bright, but Bouhaddi punches clear.
90+2 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): But here come Lyon, Van de Sanden screeching down the right ant finding Hegerberg, seven yards out, alone in the middle ... AND SHE MISSES HER KICK! MY WORD!
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90+1 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): On the Chelsea bench, Emma Hayes bwls her team forward and sticks Bright up front.
90 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): There’ll be five added minutes.
89 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bright is robbed on halfway and Le Sommer streaks away at inside-left ... can she settle the tie? From 15 yards, she digs left-footed, and Bright shoves it away diving left, getting just enough on it to keep the rebound away from Van de Sanden.
88 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Lyon are not rushing to keep play moving, and Mbock goes down then stays there for as long as possible.
86 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): ...Cuthbert whips it in, England flicks it on, and Lyon break with Van de Sanden ... but Bright there there to foil the attack.
86 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Mjelde wins a corner won the right...
85 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cuthbert, who’s had a good game, slides a pass into Kirby, but Mbock forces her away from goal. Good defending.
84 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Final change for Lyon: Kumagi, the captain of Japan, replaces Henry, the captain of France.
83 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): On the one hand, Chelsea will struggle to create a better chance than that; on the other, they’ve got plenty of time to create similar panic.
82 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cuthbert curls a beauty into the box, Renard gets a fine flick to take it away from Bright ... AND TIMES STANDS STILL! SPENCE IS ALONE AT THE BACK POST! BUT SHE GETS A LITTLE AHEAD OF THE BALL AND, FIVE YARDS OUT, SWEEPS A TAME FINISH WIDE OF THE NEAR POST!
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81 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cuthbert and England combine nicely; England loses it, but falls over Mbock and somehow finagles a free-kick, 40 yards out, right of centre.
80 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): More os less, this is where Chelsea wanted to be: in the tie going into the final throes.
78 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Marozsan snaps up a loose ball in midfield and sends Hegerberg away at inside-right; she’s got Le Sommer in the middle but instead tries an early shot which rattles the side-netting at the near post.
78 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Kirby comes short and looks to prod a ball in behind for Carney, but Bronze reads it and comes away with the ball.
77 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Final change for Chelsea: Spence replaces Ingle.
76 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Lyon have had a really good five minutes, and look really calm in possession.
74 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): And Maroszan curls the corner against the bar! And Renard, defeated by the bounce, can’t quite poke into the empty net!
73 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Hegerberg finds Le Sommer, who thinks about a cross, then tries a curler and Berger tips behind.
72 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Renard steams through England, then Ji, and is booked.
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71 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Kirby slings a deep cross over to the far post and Ji is there, but her knock-back goes to no one.
70 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Lyon are getting to that time: do they play their normal game, or do they sit back and invite Chelsea on?
69 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cascarino, who was very good in the first half, is replaced by Van de Sanden.
68 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): At Turf Moor, Sergio Aguero has given Manchester City the lead with a shot that just sneaked over the line.
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68 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cascarino, who’s been quiet this half, goes down the right and has all manner of options, but her cut-back is undercooked and Chelsea clear easily enough.
66 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Henry finds Le Sommer on the left and she curls in, but Berger is out to punch; Marozsan is there to pick up the loose ball, wafting a drive wide.
65 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cuthbert swings in a lovely ball, 35 yards out, and Renard gets the first touch, towards her own goal; Bright is next to react, poking goalwards, but Bouhaddi is alert, doing brilliantly to smother.
64 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Kirby drives from halfway so Fishlock slides in, raising her knee to make sure. She accepts the yellow card, and the congratulations of her team-mates.
63 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): There’s been a great flow to this game, and now Majiri goes down the left, crossing for Hegerberger, but she’s beaten to the ball by Bright.
62 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Another change for Chelsea: off goes Bachmann, replaced by England, their top-scorer. She’ll go up front alongside Kirby, I’d expect.
60 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Elsewhere: it’s Burnley 0-0 Manchester City and nerves are rising. Follow along here:
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59 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Aaarrrggghh! Cutherbet barges over halfways and finds Carney, just outside the box, down its left-hand side. Chucking a stepover at Bronze before using her as a screen, she unfurls a Whiteside-style curler ... that crashes against the far post!
58 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Change for Chelsea: Blundell replaces Andersson.
56 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Or right about now! Kirby goes down the left, a stutter and weaves too much for Renard, then slides a low cross over to Bachmann! She must score! But Majiri is in front of her and the finish is too deliberate, guided into the defender’s shin.
55 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Chelsea knock the ball about the back-four, Liverpool 80s-style. Lyon press, and that’s good for Chelsea, who’ll be looking to pinch an equaliser late on.
53 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Chelsea need to find themselves an out-ball - if they don’t, Lyon will score and then they’ll need two.
51 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): As at the start of the first half, Lyon have Chelsea pinned back and Majiri plays a one-two off Hegerberg running into the box from outside-left. But just as she looks poised to score, she checks to make a better angle and Mjelde then Eriksson slide in to block her shot.
50 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Marozsan swings the corner in and Berger claws away, then Bronze clatters Ji as they contest a high ball.
49 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Fishlock now looks to be playing in midfield, in direct opposition to her international team-mate, Ingle. Meanwhile, Le Sommer jinks into the box and drives a shot against Mjelde, which flies behind.
47 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Lyon need to get Marozsan on the ball as much as possible - the cleverness of her passing will help Hegerberger find space inside the box.
46 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cascarino lifts her foot high to kill a high ball - probably because she anticipated Eriksson’s challenge, which is wild but unthreatening.
46 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Off we go again, and Lyon make a change: Bacha goes off, and Fishlock comes on. She goes to left-wing, with Majiri moving to left-back.
The players are back with us...
The second half should be an absolute belter - see you in 15.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg)
A half of two halves. Lyon started by far the better and earned their lead, however spawny the actual goal was. But Chelsea came back very well, and were the better side leading into the break.
45+1 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bouhaddi goes to kick downfield only to shank the ball into touch. The crowd pass on their congratulation.
45 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Again, Bacha finds space on the left and pokes outside her for Majiri; Hegerberg turns her cross wide of the near post.
45 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): There’ll be three added minutes.
45 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bacha forces her way infield so Majlde hauls her down on halfway - a wise decision, especially as it doesn’t cost her a booking.
44 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Hegerberg’s been quiet so far, but here she is an inside-left, whacking a shot wide.
42 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bachmann moves in off the right and finds Cuthbert, whose Zidane turn doesn’t quite work. But Chelsea are right on top here.
41 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Kirby holds up well and moves onto Bachmann, who tries to find her again; she can’t, but Lyon can’t clear and Chelsea have them boxed!
40 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Cascarino is down after Andersson pounced on a loose touch, whacking player and ball clear. She’ll be ok, I reckon.
38 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Suddenly, Chelsea are playing with confidence, anticipating Mnock’s passes out wide and intercepting them.
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35 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bachmann goes through the back of Bacha, who reacts slightly. She needs to be careful, because Chelsea need her on the pitch - Cuthbert and Carney both go over to tell her to relax.
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33 min Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (2-3 agg): Bachmann tries to schlep the ball off Bouhaddi, Brian McClair-style, and after a brief struggle, both are booked.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Lyon (Ji So-yun 33) agg 2-3
Oh this is sumptuous! Inside the D, Ji curls over the wall and inside the left side-netting. That was so confidently and expertly done!
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32 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): But here come Chelsea down the right, Carney stepping over beautifully as the cross comes in; Cuthbert accepts possession and makes for the box, before Cascarino trips her and she falls inside the box. The foul was just outside, reckons the ref; Cascarino is booked.
32 min Mbock’s passing is so good, and her switches of play are helping Lyon control this - they’re killing Chelsea out wide.
31 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): It’s been quite some time since Chelsea got anywhere near the Lyon box.
29 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): Bronze pursues a high ball that Eriksson clears and stops running; Eriksson then runs into her and goes down. After a quick breather, she’s good to go, while Bronze proclaims her innocence.
28 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): Henry is late on Eriksson, earning a card - the crowd at Kingsmeadow enjoy that. Any port in a storm.
27 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): Arsenal have won 4-0 at Brighton, and are the new WSL champions!
25 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): Cascino has Andersson on absolute toast, beating her again to find Le Sommer, who forces a corner. Ji gets it away at the second attempt.
24 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): There’s a class difference here, and we’re seeing it at the moment. Chelsea just cannot string passes together, while Lyon are playing with so much confidence.
23 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): Apologies, my iPlayer crashed, then my everything crashed.
17 min Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (1-3 agg): A ball into the box his Bronze on the foot, jumps up onto her arm ... and the ref says no penalty! I see both sides - she didn’t mean to do it, but she did play it onto herself. I’d say that’s the right call, on balance.
GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 Lyon (Mjelde og) 1-3 agg
Gosh this is a mess. Mbock drills a nice pass out to the right, where Eriksson swipes and succeeds only in diverting the ball into the path of Andersson, who moves into Cascarino in the middle; she does nicely, using her body to tee up Hegerberg, who finds Le Sommer, whose shot - which is going wide - deflects in off Mjelde.
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15 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Lyon get it into Hegerberg, who tries a clever turn by allowing the ball to hit her ankle as she turns her body, but Bright is in hard and fast to clear.
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14 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Hegerberg spreads wide to Majiri, who looks for Cascarino in the middle, but Mjelde is there to deflect the cross behind. The corner comes to nowt.
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13 min Lyon are looking to move the ball quickly, but Chelsea, who haven’t quite sorted the organisation of their press yet, do much better this time and stop the build.
11 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): It’s pretty quiet at the moment, which sort of suits both sides.
9 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Chelsea are in no hurry to move the ball forward when allowed time at the back. And that looks wise to me - they don’t want Lyon getting into a rhythm, but do want to win 1-0.
8 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): The key for Chelsea is confidence. That can’t compensate for class, but they need to believe that they can do this, not hope that they can do this.
7 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Chelsea press with Cuthbert looking for Kirby, running between right-back and centre-back, but the ball is too short.
6 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Lyon win a free-kick down the left - I’m sorry, I’m not going to tell you who took it or who headed it over, as I was scrawling the teams having just finished another match - but that’s what happened.
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5 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): Chelsea see it away.
4 min Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): It’s been a fast-paced start, and Cascarino wins a corner off Erikson...
Peep peep: Chelsea 0-0 Lyon (1-2 agg): We’re off!
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Team news
Team news is in at Kingsmeadow! 🙌#CFCOL pic.twitter.com/Me4BZdzHWZ
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) April 28, 2019
Lyon: Bouhaddi, Bronze, Renard, Mbock, Bacha, Cascarino, Marozsan, Henry, Majri, Le Sommer, Hegerberg
Subs: Weiss, Buchanan, Simon, Kumagai, Fishlock, Jaimes, Van de Sanden
Preamble
This tie is so well-balanced it could change it’s name to Tami and Eric Taylor. Lyon are the reigning and threepeating champions, aiming for their sixth European title, and have so many brilliant players that it’s ridiculous. Ada Hegerberg gets most of the headlines and rightly so, but with Dzenifer Marozsan and Eugenie Le Sommer behind her, Amadine Henry behind them, and Wendy Renard and Lucy Bronze behind them, her job is made considerably easier. It’s going to take a fair effort to counter that.
But Chelsea are capable of doing it. Though they’ve not followed last season’s double with as strong a domestic performance, Fran Kirby can win any game and if Ramona Bachmann finds her best form too, they’re really in business. In the meantime, they’ll defend their away goal, see what they can do on the break and, all things being equal, deliver us the game of the weekend, the winners to meet Barcelona in the final. Dig in!
Kick-off: 2pm BST
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