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AAP
AAP

Matildas Carpenter, Crummer open with WECL wins

Matildas stars Ellie Carpenter and Larissa Crummer have begun the Women's Champions League group stage with impressive victories.

Carpenter's Lyon, the eight-time winners from France, destroyed Slavia Prague 9-0 with the Australian right-back coming off after an hour on Tuesday night in the Czech Republic.

Brann forward Crummer played a full game in her Norwegian side's 2-1 win over St Poelten.

Carpenter went close to scoring in the 44th minute, but was thwarted by a good save from the home side's goalkeeper.

Eight of her teammates did find the back of the net, with Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles scoring either side of halftime.

Legendary French striker Eugenie Le Sommer got on the scoresheet for 48th time in the competition, leaving her equal-third on the all-time list.

"I am really satisfied how we started off, with the result and with the way we performed tonight," Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor said.

"Maybe we faced a less experienced team, but I am still proud of my side. We kept to our plan and scored a few beautiful goals. Despite the result, there are still things we might improve."

The victory extends Lyon's winning start to the campaign to nine across all competitions, scoring 42 in the process and conceding just twice, and also equals the biggest winning margin in the group stage, set by Barcelona last season.

In Austria, Brann marked their group stage debut with a hard-fought away victory.

Australian Crummer, who left for Europe after playing for Newcastle and Brisbane in the A-League Women, went close to extending their winning margin but shot wide on a couple of occasions.

Elsewhere, two-time winners and defending champions Barcelona thrashed Benfica 5-0, with Alexia Putellas and recently crowned women's Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati both scoring twice, while Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rosengaard of Norway 2-1.

Tomorrow Hayley Raso's Real Madrid host Sam Kerr's Chelsea in the Spanish capital, while fellow Matildas Clare Hunt, Sarah Hunter and Aivi Luik are also in action.

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