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Chelsea breezed past Austrian outfit St Pölten to seal their second Women’s Champions League victory of the campaign. Two goals from Catarina Macario, a finish from Wieke Kaptein, a double for Sam Kerr on her return to the starting lineup and an unfortunate Lisa Ebert own goal moved them up to second at the halfway stage of the league phase.
There was no doubt that Bompastor’s side were coming into this as heavy favourites with evident disparities between the two. While both have dominated their domestic leagues in recent years – St Pölten have lifted the ÖFB-Frauenliga 10 times in the last decade; Chelsea have won eight WSL titles in the same time – the difference in resource, investment and experience in Europe is stark. While the English champions have reached the semi-finals of the competition for the last three seasons, the Austrians have to go back to November 2022 for their last win in Europe.
The star quality of the Blues’ squad is no secret as they remain unbeaten in all competitions despite a stuttering start to their Champions League campaign. A confident win against Paris FC last time out, however, banished the nerves after an opening day draw with FC Twente.
Amongst the five changes Bompastor made from Saturday’s eventful derby against Arsenal were Naomi Girma, a world record transfer at the time of signing, and Alyssa Thompson who joined for around £1 million in September. That is not to mention the likes of Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Kerr who was making her first club start in almost 23 months. Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was missing with a minor thigh injury leading to a rare start for the Switzerland international Livia Peng while in better news, Lauren James made her first appearance on the bench since recovering from an ankle injury.
Their opponents have, in contrast, endured a tempestuous start to their season. Sitting second behind Austria Wien domestically, they have had a baptism of fire to the league phase, suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Atlético Madrid and OL Lyonnes. A change at the helm followed with 47-year-old Laurent Fassotte replacing Lisa Alzner at the end of October. He made just one alteration to the team that faced the French champions last time out with Agathe Ollivier replacing Ludmila Matavkova.
Despite their inconsistent form, St Pölten were welcomed onto the pitch to the drumroll of their vociferous fans who never stopped singing in spite of Chelsea’s first-half dominance.
Bompastor had called for patience from her side as the faced an organised defensive block but their superiority in all areas eventually paid off.
The Blues were particularly dangerous down the right with the link-up between Ellie Carpenter and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd proving effective. It was from this area that the breakthrough came as the former cut a low ball across goal for Kaptein to turn home.
The visitors continued their pressure but were made to work for their second goal. Kerr somehow could not poke the ball over the line while Girma had a comical finish disallowed for offside.
They eventually got their reward just before the break when Rytting Kaneryd turned over possession and found Macario in the box. The American placed a low shot past Carina Schlüter into the far corner to double the score.
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St Pölten had registered their first shot on target just before the break when Carina Brunold tested Peng from distance and the visitors became more adventurous as they looked to push out and relieve the constant pressure on their defence. Sarah Gutmann got on the end of their best move of the game, making a strong run into the box, but she was ultimately unable to find an end product.
Chelsea, however, were ruthless and extended their lead a minute later. When Thompson was felled by Izabela Krizaj in the box, Macario stepped up to confidently convert from the spot. Thompson then thought she had got in on the act only for her goal to be ruled out for offside.
Both coaches rang the changes but it did little to disrupt the visitors’ flow with Kerr and Sjoeke Nüsken both coming close.
The icing on the cake for the visitors came when Kerr finally got her goal before they welcomed James back to the pitch for the first time this season. The England international was instrumental in their fifth with the unfortunate Ebert turning her delivery into her own net before Kerr struck again from close range. It was a victory that set the Blues up perfectly ahead of the visit of Barcelona to Stamford Bridge next week.
