Page 8 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.6 2020-21

There were mixed results for the three British teams in the first leg of their Round of 32 ties in the
UEFA Women’s Champions League on Wednesday afternoon with one having all but booked their
place in the last sixteen, one taking a good lead into the second leg and the other needing to
overcome a one-goal deficit when the sides meet again next week.
Chelsea can look forward to the next round after Christmas as a powerful first half
performance propelled them towards a 5-0 victory over SL Benfica. The Blues missed out on
European competition last season but were determined to make up for lost time and were ahead
after only 80 seconds of play. Fran Kirby turning home a cross from Pernille Harder to become the
club’s record goalscorer. Millie Bright then headed in from a Guro Reiten free kick and after Kirby
had slotted in her second goal on the day, Reiten’s corner was headed home by Harder to put them
four goals up at half time. After the break, Beth England further increased their lead to leave Chelsea
in a commanding position when the teams meet for the second leg at Kingsmeadow next
Wednesday.
Manchester City meanwhile travelled to Sweden for a difficult looking task away to FC
Goteborg and will be delighted with taking a 2-1 lead into the second leg. In freezing conditions, it
was Goteborg who went ahead after four minutes when Vilde Boe Risa followed up to score from the
rebound after Ellie Roebuck had saved Pauline Hammarlund’s initial shot. It was half an hour before
City were able to settle down after the early setback and they hit the woodwork twice before getting
back on level terms, Caroline Weir winning possession and feeding Georgia Stanway whose shot
went in via a post for her 50th goal for the club. This made the score 1-1 at half time but City went on
to dominate matters after the break. With fifteen minutes remaining, they made the breakthrough
once again and Weir was once again the provider, with a pinpoint cross which was headed back
across goal by Sam Mewis and into the far corner of the net. The teams will meet again next
Wednesday at the Academy Stadium.
Glasgow City also faced a hard tie at Sparta Prague and needed to produce a good second
half performance to avoid potentially being put out of the tie. Although City had started the game
brightly, Sparta came into the game as a force and opened the scoring just after the half hour,
Marketa Ringelova bundling home from a scramble after a cross had come back off the bar. Things
were to get worse for the SWPL side as they fell two goals behind on the stroke of half time, Anna
Dlaskova firing home a powerful strike from the edge of the area which found the top corner. A
double substitution at the interval seemed to help freshen things up for City and they got the away
goal they craved soon after the restart. Aoife Colvill received the ball on the edge of the area and
found Sharon Wojcik who curled a shot home and brought her side back into the tie. Lee Alexander
made a good save at the other end to deny Chlastakova and Tyler Toland fired over for City, but the
2-1 scoreline leaves everything to play for the second leg which is also on Wednesday at the
Broadwood Stadium, which will be televised live on BBC Alba.

Leyton Orient WFC, of the FA Women’s National League, have announced that the majority of future
home fixtures this season will now be played at the Hornchurch Stadium, home of Hornchurch FC.
Orient’s first game at their new home on the border of London and Essex will be the Vitality
Women’s FA Cup First Round match this coming Sunday Actonians.
Orient skipper Allison McCann expressed her delight at the move: “We are thrilled to be
playing our first home game at the Hornchurch stadium this weekend, hopefully with many Os’ fans
in attendance! It's been a long and difficult year and we're so grateful to be playing football again.”
Midfielder Lauren Heria saw Tuesday’s impressive 4-1 win for Hornchurch FC against Wingate
and Finchley in the FA Trophy, adding: “It was great to watch the Hornchurch FC win ahead of our
FA Cup fixture at the stadium this weekend. The ground, staff, and spectators are all fantastic. I am
looking forward to making the stadium our home and bringing women’s football to the community.”
Orient manager Chris Brayford said: "We are pleased to have the opportunity to play our home
games at Hornchurch FC, so I'd like to thank Colin McBride for his help in facilitating this. It will be
great to have fans in the stadium again and for the players to hear that backing. We are hoping also
that it might perhaps be a more convenient location for more Orient fans to get to so hopefully it will
be another step forward for the team."
Issue no. 6 - 10 December 2020 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk