Here’s Suzy Wrack’s match report. Thanks for your company.
And Hayes has some praise for her brilliant Chelsea defence:
I would like to talk about my back four. They were peppered. Last week was our poorest performance defensively. They owned that. Jess Carter has been superb in training, sticking to the task, she was ready when called upon.
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Here’s Chelsea’s ecstatic manager, Emma Hayes:
It probably ranks as my favourite win in charge. I posed the challenge to the group about the maturity, the progression. That’s how you show yourself as a manager, how we are growing up in Europe. We’ve played them before and been humiliated. They are the benchmark. It’s a proud day for English football. I’ve waited nine years for today. The players played with that level of control, discipline, assured nature, they carried out what I wanted them to do in its entirety. Everybody did their job.
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What a manager Emma Hayes is, too. She got every call right in that game. Wolfsburg were good for large parts of the game but Chelsea’s tactics did so much to limit their threat. Cuthbert, in for Ji, was just what they needed in midfield. Hayes’s game management in the second half was exemplary, too.
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So Chelsea have just beaten the 2020 German champions but they will likely have to overcome the probable 2021 German champions in the semi-finals if they are to make it all the way to the final. Bayern Munich lead FC Rosengård 3-0 after the first leg when they face off in the second leg tomorrow. Mind you, after this display, they should be walking on air (Kerr?) when they go into that one.
@GreggBakowski Sam Kerr, if she was a work of fiction you would describe her as a unrealistic character. So much to love about her.
— phil withall (@phil_withall) March 31, 2021
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We’ll have a report on this Chelsea win up very shortly but that’s not be the end of the Champions league action. Niall McVeigh is ready to guide you through Manchester City’s attempt to make a miracle happen against Barcelona at the Academy Stadium. You can follow that one here:
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Full-time: Wolfsburg 0-3 Chelsea (agg 1-5)
What a result for Emma Hayes! Her side were supreme at both ends of the pitch, defending with authority when required and showing clinical precision in front of goal after some enterprising attacks. Three times Wolfsburg have knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League but not on this occasion. Their front three of Harder, Kerr and Kirby got the goals but there were heroes at the back, too. Jess Carter, the stand-in right back, was brilliant and Millie Bright and Magda Eriksson were supreme as well. The semi-finals await.
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90+1 min: Ji tries to get in on the act but her shot at goal but is a tame effort and easily saved. Wolfsburg just want this to end now.
90 min: Berger prevents a consolation goal after rushing off her line and then finding herself stranded. Huth’s shot at goal is straight at her, though, and she saves with her feet.
89 min: Ji finds Reiten on the left. She zips a ball into Kirby, who falls over yet still manages two touches while lying down. One a decent attempt at a through ball.
87 min: Bright blocks a crack at goal from Van de Sanden. She’s like a big blue magnet for the ball. Erikssen may be better on the ball but Bright is a defender’s centre-back. She wins her battles.
85 min: More changes. For Chelsea, Drew Spence is on for Sophie Ingle. For Wolfsburg, Ingrid Engen is replaced by Lotta Cordes who, I hope, plays guitar really well.
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84 min: Popp has a pop from 25 yards but it’s a yard wide.
83 min: Yes, yes, they were already into the semi-finals but that goal very much felt like the gloss. Kirby really deserved that. She has barely put a foot wrong today. In fact I can’t remember her giving the ball away once.
Goal! Wolfsburg 0-3 Chelsea (Kirby 81) – agg 1-5
Kirby takes a long ball down, wins the loose ball as she is challenged and feeds Ji. The substitute delays and then releases Kirby on the right, who skips into the box and lifts a delicious finish over Kiedrzynek to add the cherry on the cake. Chelsea are into the semi-finals!
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77 min: Leupolz has got a bloodied nose so Chelsea have the chance to make some changes of their own. Cuthbert, who has worked her socks off and been a key reason why Chelsea have not been bullied in midfield, is replaced by Ji. And Jessie Fleming replaces Leupolz, who may have a couple of black eyes in the morning.
75 min: Pajor, who missed that big chance to make it 1-1 in the first half, is withdrawn. She looks forlorn as she trudges off to be replaced by Zsanett Jakabfi. Blomqvists, who has looked dangerous without ever finding a killer pass or cross, is replaced by Sofie Svava.
74 min: Beep! Beep! Beep! That’s the sound of this Chelsea team reversing. They’re ever so deep now. Might Hayes make a change to inject a little more energy in midfield to try and drive them a bit further forwards?
72 min: Kirby’s hold-up play is brilliant after Bright hoiked a huge clearance forwards when Chelsea were under pressure. Chelsea have missed that since Kerr’s departure. Chelsea win a throw-in eventually after Kirby shepherds the ball towards the left touchline, dragging three defenders with her.
70 min: Wolfsburg needs four goals in 20 minutes. If they do it, we’re going to have fun on this minute-by-minute report.
69 min: Janssen curls it towards the far-right corner but Berger reads it all the way and gathers it comfortably.
68 min: Wolfsburg win a free-kick 25 yards out in a great shooting position just to the left of centre. Janssen to take it …
67 min: Van de Sanden is bright spark. She’s got an incredible turn of pace but her final delivery has been found wanting when she has got into a crossing position.
65 min: Leupolz picks teh pocket of a Wolfsburg defender and cracks a shot at goal that is blocked. But the referee is of the opinion that the pocket-picking was illegal. Free-kick to Wolfsburg.
63 min: Carter times a shuddering tackle on Rauch perfectly to stop the rampaging Wolfsburg left-back in her tracks. That’s another gold star for the Chelsea right-back.
62 min: The razor-sharp Sam Kerr, the scorer of Chelsea’s second goal today, is taken off. Guro Reiten, a midfielder, is brought on in her stead as Hayes looks to bring back an element of control.
61 min: Popp takes a long diagonal ball down just inside the Chelsea area. She has the chance to turn Bright and shoot but as she attempts to swivel she loses her balance and falls at the crucial time. It’s not Wolfsburg’s day.
60 min: Van de Sanden is on for Rolfö. I’m surprised by that. Rolfö has been one of Wolfsburg’s brightest players. Maybe she has an injury.
58 min: Blomqvist drops a shoulder and zips past Bright on the left. She reaches the byline and drills in a cross only for the impressive Carter to head clear. What a game she’s having.
57 min: Wolfsburg have a penalty appeal waved away after Pajor takes a tumble among many bodies in the box after a hopeful cross from the right. There was too much going on to see what happened.
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54 min: Cuthbert hoiks a ball towards the box that flies over everyone when the better option was surely to keep possession.
53 min: Cuthbert is clipped by a frustrated Popp. Free-kick 45 yards from goal and a chance for Chelsea to waste a little time.
52 min: Chelsea break after a bright attack by Wolfsburg. Cuthbert slips the ball to Harder, who is in wide open space on the right. She scurries forwards and angles a ball towards the onrushing Kerr but the pass is overhit and she is furious with herself. That was a big chance to really kill a tie that is already more or less dead.
50 min: Berger’s loose clearance gives Wolfsburg a rare sniff of getting players forwards in numbers. Huth has a crack at goal from 20 yards that Eriksson blocks and then Hendrich’s cross is plucked from the air by Berger, who will be relieved that her errant kick did not lead to a goal.
49 min: Millie Bright has been a towering presence for Chelsea when Wolfsburg have tried to play long. She wins another big header and then is first to sweep up the second ball and get Chelsea moving forwards.
47 min: Leupolz needs some treatment after kicking the side of Rauch’s foot and, I’m assuming, doing her toes some harm.
The second half!
45 min: Peep! Wolfsburg get the second half under way. They need four goals. How will Chelsea play this? Surely they can afford to be a little more reserved, though that wasn’t how they got themselves into such a commanding position. It was front-foot football.
Considering the lack of Chelsea gametime Jessica Carter has had, she has shown incredible energy both defensively and in attack. The third-choice right-back’s marauding runs forward have unnerved Wolfsburg on that right flank and she is doing her chances of becoming a more regular member of Emma Hayes’s starting XI no harm at all.
Wolfsburg have a mountain to climb in the second half. While we’re on the subject of footballing alpinism, Gareth Taylor has been talking up his Manchester City side’s chances of scaling their own Everest in the second leg of their Champions League against Barcelona, which they trail 3-0.
Half-time: Wolfsburg 0-2 Chelsea (agg 1-4)
That’s a dream half for Chelsea, who are in a comfortable position despite being made to work extremely hard by Wolfsburg. They have been rewarded for being aggressive from the outset. The penalty might have been a fortunate award but there was nothing lucky about Sam Kerr’s swivel and finish. It was unerring.
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45 min: There will be one minute of added time at the end of the first half. That’s just enough time to watch Kerr’s wonderful centre-forward’s goal.
It’s @SamKerr1 again!! 🌟#CFCW #UWCL pic.twitter.com/3rV8SBAY6F
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 31, 2021
43 min: Wolfsburg do cause mild alarm in the Chelsea ranks with a low Rolfo cross from the right, though. It’s cleared at the second attempt by Andersson.
41 min: That second goal seems to have drained all belief out of this Wolfsburg team. Chelsea are first to everything now, Cuthbert pulling the strings in midfield and Bright standing like a blue beacon at the back.
40 min: Kerr, who is playing with the menace of an angry wasp, twists away from her marker on the left and clips a cross towards Kirby at the back post but the ball drifts over her teammate.
38 min: And now Chelsea do take their foot off the gas as they confidently pop, pop, pop the ball around at the back to waste a bit of precious time.
36 min: You might think Chelsea would sit back but they come racing forwards again. Carter, on the overlap, picks up possession and drills a low cross towards Ker but the ball is cleared for a corner. Eriksson’s header from the resulting kick is headed over.
34 min: This is going exactly as Hayes would have wanted it to. Wolfsburg have been dangerous but Chelsea have stood firm and haven’t missed a beat when they have had the chance to attack. Wolfsburg need four goals to win the tie. That isn’t going to happen with Hayes keeping her Chelsea side on their toes with barked instructions from the sidelines.
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Goal! Wolfsburg 0-2 Chelsea (Kerr 31) – agg 1-4
And that could be the tie sealed! Bright clips a ball in to Kerr in the middle of the penalty area who, under pressure, controls, swivels and fires home into the bottom right hand corner in clinical fashion. That’s brilliant centre-forward play!
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30 min: Replays of the foul for the penalty show that it probably happened just outside the box. Kerr clearly fell inside the box but I think the contact came just outside. I’m not calling for VAR, mind.
28 min: Wolfsburg almost reoply with a goal straight away. Blomqvist fires a low cross towards Pajor, who stretches to convert into an open goal from six yards out but watches the ball bounce off her shin and go wide.
Goal! Wolfsburg 0-1 Chelsea (Harder 27 pen) – agg 1-3
The former Wolfsburg player, Harder, sends Kiedrzynek the wrong way, slotting coolly with her right foot into the bottom left-hand corner.
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Penalty to Chelsea!
Kerr is bundled over by Doorsun right on the edge of the box. It could easily be a free-kick but the ref points to the spot.
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25 min: Carter finds Harder with an early long throw down the right that catches Wolfsburg napping. Harder nips in behind Rauch and clips a ball into Kerr who can’t control.
24 min: It’s been an entertaining start. The pace of the game has been intense.
21 min: If Wolfsburg’s crossing had been of the same quality as some of their approach play they could easily have created three or four big chances but many of their deliveries have been overhit. Rolfo is the latest to find space down the left, where they are targeting Carter, but she puts far too much on her cross and it drifts over her intended targets.
19 min: Blomqvist blazes past Carter on the left wing but her square cross is just behind Pajor and Bright clears at the second attempt. The German champions are building up a head of steam.
17 min: Wolfsburg are starting to win the physical battles in midfield. Popp steps in and releases Huth, who has been very busy on the right. She drifts a cross towards the back post and then Chelsea make a meal of clearing the ball, with Kirby playing a short backpass to Berger who is fouled.
15 min: And then Chelsea break, with Kerr almost weighting a delicious pass in to Kirby, who would have been through on goal 25 yards out. But Janssen keeps pace with Kirby, holds off the effervescent forward, and brings calm authority to what looked like a very worrying situation.
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14 min: Those attacks have given the German champions some added pep in their step. Engen’s quick feet discombobulate Andersson and then she releases Hendrick on the overlap, who knocks a deep cross in to the box, which Chelsea clear away for a corner. The corner comes to nothing …
12 min: Chelsea are dominating possession but Wolfsburg pick off a loose ball forwards and counter with intent. Huth’s cross is cleared by Carter but Rolfo picks up the clearance, plays in Rauch, who zips down to the byline and clips a deflected looping cross into the box that Berger claws at only for Eriksson to clear a yard off the line. That was a warning from Wolfsburg.
9 min: Carter needs a little treatment after picking up a knock on a surge down the right flank. She’s Chelsea’s third-choice right-back. They really could do without her getting injured but they do have Hannah Blundell on the bench and who could play there and she’s been capped by England.
8 min: She doesn’t whip it in very well though and Wolfsburg clear a low cross all too easily on the edge of the box.
7 min: Popp shoves Kerr in the back in a dangerous crossing position on the left. Cuthbert will whip it in.
6 min: Wolfsburg have their first attack. Hendrick swings a deep cross towards Pajor at the back post, but Berger towers above all and claims with two firm hands. That was authoritative goalkeeping.
4 min: Harder stretches her legs down the right wing and drills a low cross in towards Kerr but this time the Wolfsburg defence stands firm and Janssen clears.
3 min: Wolfsburg look particularly rusty here. Engen is the second player to make a hash of a clearance in a few moments. Kerr pounces on the loose ball but she is hustled towards the byline and the ball runs out for a goal-kick. This is a high-intensity start by Chelsea, though. Hayes will be delighted.
Peep!
1 min: Chelsea get the game under way. They’s shooting from right to left on my screen. They immediately win a throw on the right. Kerr flicks the ball on to Kirby but she’s outnumbered and Wolfsburg clear.
The players are out at the Ferenc Puskás Stadium in Budapest, where the weather is glorious. It’s 22c and, unlike London, the sun is shining through clear skies. Chelsea, in blue, are led out by captain Magda Eriksson, while Wolfsburg, in high-vis green march out with skipper Alexandra Popp at the front. It’s almost time for football!
Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s story on the big news at Arsenal:
Breaking news!
Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro is to leave the WSL club at the end of the season. The 51-year-old Australian has been in the job since November 2017 and guided the Gunners to the 2018-19 Women’s Super League title. His tenure has also included winning the Continental League Cup in 2018. Arsenal said in a statement on their official website that Montemurro, whose side are currently fourth in the WSL table, has “decided to take a professional break to recharge and dedicate more time to spending with his family”.
Both teams won their league games by a two-goal margin at the weekend. Wolfsburg beat SC Sand 3-1 but they remain in second place five points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who they may face in the semi-finals if they get past Chelsea. Chelsea took care of Aston Villa 2-0 thanks to a Sam Kerr double to move above Manchester City to the top of the WSL. You can read more about that win here:
The teams
Wolfsburg: Kiedrzynek, Hendrich, Janssen, Huth, Popp (c), Rauch, Rolfö, Engen, Blomqvist, Pajor, Doorsoun. Subs: Schult, Abt, Jakabfi, Blässe, Saevik, Svava, Wolter, Dickenmann, Van de Sanden, Wedemeyer, Goessling, Cordes.
Chelsea: Berger, Bright, Ingle, Carter, Leupolz, Kirby, Eriksson (c), Kerr, Cuthbert, Harder, Andersson. Subs: Musovic, Telford, Blundell, England, Ji, Reiten, Fleming, Spence, Fox, Beever-Jones.
Referee: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS)
For Chelsea, Carter comes in for the suspended Charles and Cuthbert is preferred to Ji in midfield.
For Wolfsburg, Blomqvist is in for the suspended Oberdorf.
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Preamble
Hello everyone! This one could not be more finely balanced. Chelsea take a 2-1 lead back to Budapest (the go-to place for European football in Covid times) after a first leg in which they “suffered” - as manager Emma Hayes put it – but dug deep to record a first win in seven attempts against the German champions. Hayes thought the maturity of her side helped them “close the gap” to Europe’s elite but having Pernille Harder, who was a Wolfsburg player last season, among her ranks was also very handy. She scored what turned out to be the decisive goal in the first leg.
Wolfsburg dominated large spells of the game last week and Hayes will surely want her side to be more dominant in midfield, where the Germans were so strong. Even if they do see less of the ball than their opponents, in Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby they have two clinical strikers who gobble up chances when they come. They are the second and third top scorers in the WSL, just behind Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema and they’re reminiscent of another famous double act, according to Hayes:
They are yin and yang – one goes one way, one goes the other. Some call it telepathy, some call it chemistry, some call it a brilliant partnership. Yorke and Cole, I think about those two and I think of Kerr and Kirby.
It’s hard to call which way this one might go but I feel that Chelsea will have to score an away goal to progress. And they certainly have the players to do that.
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