Chelsea 3-0 Manchester City (3-2): Blues make it three from four knocking a lacklustre City out of the UWCL
Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea dominated the final battle in the war of attrition that has been waged between the Blues and Manchester City over the last twelve days, knocking Nick Cushing’s weary warriors out of the Champions League 3-2 on aggregate.
Goals from Sandy Baltimore, Nathalie Björn and Mayra Ramirez secured Chelsea’s semi-final meeting with reigning champions Barcelona, as the Blues’ dreams of a quadruple remain alive and well.
Chelsea went into the second leg looking to overcome a 2-0 deficit to Cushing’s Sky Blues, having seen City off in both the League Cup Final and the WSL in two of the four meetings between the sides in the past fortnight.
Despite a strong first-leg performance, City showed just how much of a toll the current campaign has taken on the squad, only managing to muster a five-strong bench while in the depths of an injury crisis.
Chelsea were domineering from the off, and as City struggled to maintain possession in the midfield, Baltimore opened the home side’s account, picking up Lucy Bronze’s ricocheted shot and firing home the opener with venom just 13 minutes in.
Björn already had one header hit the post and another saved off the line by the talismanic Vivianne Miedema, but the Swede was lucky on the third time of asking with a looping header that was enough to beat Khiara Keating after 37 minutes.
With Chelsea back on level terms, they showed no signs of slowing, and Colombian wizard Ramirez tapped home a Lauren James cutback a minute before the break to give Chelsea the advantage.
Keating was once again called upon to spare the visitors’ blushes, saving a point blank effort from Ramirez moments before the half.
With chants of “We want more” ringing around Stamford Bridge, Chelsea again came out swinging, repeatedly putting Keating to work.
Attempting to make the most of limited substitutions, Cushing brought on Laura Coombs and Jess Park to little avail, with England number one Hannah Hampton in complete control of the Chelsea area.
With twenty minutes to go, City began to show some signs of life, as Miedema fired a long-range effort inches wide.
However, it was Erin Cuthburt who came closest to putting the tie to bed, as her 80th-minute attempt rattled the City crossbar.
Despite some of City’s fresh legs building momentum in transition, the solitary goal the visitors needed to take the tie into extra-time never materialised as Chelsea weathered a late storm to cement their place in the next round.
