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Chelsea cruised into the knockout stages of the Women’s Champions League with two games to spare on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge. A comfortable 3-0 victory for last year’s semi-finalists, with first-half goals from Lucy Bronze and Wieke Kaptein, finished off with a 95th-minute penalty from Ève Périsset, saw them claim an impressive 11th victory in as many games.
It is safe to say that it has been a dream start for Chelsea under the guidance of Sonia Bompastor. Unbeaten in all competitions, they came into this game sitting atop the WSL while also leading Champions League Group B. With Real Madrid beating Twente earlier in the day, they needed just a point to progress into the quarter-finals.
Bompastor has not been afraid to rotate her star-studded squad since taking charge at the start of the season. She made six changes to the team that started in the 2-0 victory over Manchester City on Saturday with Zecira Musovic, Catarina Macario, Maelys Mpomé, Ashley Lawrence, Oriane Jean-François and Wieke Kaptein all coming in. There was also room on the bench for 17-year-old Lola Brown, a product of the Chelsea academy who signed her first professional contract with the club earlier this week.
In contrast, Celtic have not had the best time since losing to Chelsea in the reverse fixture last week. Defeat in a five-goal thriller by Rangers on Sunday saw them drop further behind league leaders Glasgow City at the top of the Scottish Women’s Premier League. Elena Sadiku made three changes with the introduction of Célya Barclais, Jennifer Smith and Colette Cavanagh, knowing that only victory would keep her side in this competition.
The encounter between these two at Celtic Park had given Chelsea some food for thought against a competitive Celtic outfit. It soon became clear, however, on this chilly evening in west London, that the English champions were not going to allow the same thing to happen twice.
They were helped by the fact that they were ahead after 65 seconds when Catarina Macario found Bronze, who had lost her marker in the penalty area and hit an instinctive volley past Kelsey Daugherty in the Celtic goal. It was a strike that meant the England international has now scored for four different teams in the Women’s Champions League.
The tempo was set from that moment. Celtic could barely get out of their own half as Chelsea dominated, finding particular joy in the linkup between Bronze and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd down the right.
The only aspect that was really lacking for Chelsea was a clinical end product. Rytting Kaneryd, Macario and Sjoeke Nüsken were all wayward, leaving Bompastor at times jumping up and down in frustration.
The inevitable – a second goal for the hosts – was never far away, however, and a brilliant looping header from Kaptein after another well-worked corner saw Chelsea go in at the break with one foot in the quarter-finals.
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It will have done little for Celtic’s confidence to see Mayra Ramírez coming on at half-time. The Colombian forward has a habit of leaving some of the world’s best defenders for dust and she was an immediate thorn in their tiring defence as the waves of Chelsea attack continued. Her introduction was closely followed by that of Erin Cuthbert, the former Rangers midfielder welcomed by an array of boos from the travelling support, but despite the hosts’ continued dominance, their finishing eluded them.
Bompastor is known for her ability to develop youth players and one such player with a bright future is Brown. With five minutes left, the young England midfielder was rewarded with her club and Champions League debut, an important step in her continued development.
As the final whistle blew, Chelsea could celebrate as they head comfortably into the knockout stages once again. Celtic meanwhile return home, knocked out of the competition after their first appearance in the group stages.
