Page 3 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.11 2022-23
P. 3

The third round of fixtures in the UEFA Women’s Champions
       League group stage took place this week and on Wednesday
       night, Chelsea strengthened their position at the top of Group
       A with a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid at Kingsmeadow.
           The Blues now top the group table by five clear points and
       one more win should be enough to guarantee their place in the
       knockout phase of the competition.
           Chelsea needed to work hard against a Real Madrid side
       which included Scottish international midfielder Caroline Weir
       but were having the better of things, although not really troubling Misa Rodriguez in the Real goal.
           This changed at the midpoint of the second half when a corner from the right, taken by Erin
       Cuthbert, was flicked on by Millie Bright and Sophie Ingle was on hand to head home the opening
       goal from close range. Nine minutes later, Chelsea doubled their lead with an element of fortune
       as Cuthbert raced down the right and her cross sailed over the head of Rodriguez and inside the far
       post. Niamh Charles could have made it three late on but shot just wide, nevertheless Chelsea have
       continued their perfect start at the halfway stage.
           Defeat for Real Madrid means that Paris Saint Germain have replaced them in second
       place  after  beating  Vllaznia  5-0  with  goals  from  Grace  Geyoro,  Ramona  Bachmann,  Sandy
       Baltimore and Magnaba Folquet as well as an own goal.
           Arsenal were in action on Thursday night with a trip to Juventus and both teams were able
       to preserve their respective unbeaten records as the match finished 1-1.
           Coming up against their former manager Joe Montemurro and ex-Gunner Pauline Peyrayd-
       Magnin in goal, the two teams produced an entertaining clash in which Arsenal had the better of
       matters in the first half, but after the break, Juventus came out strongly and took the lead within
       seven  minutes  of  the  restart  when  a  loose  Arsenal  pass  was  intercepted  and  Cristiana  Girelli
       threaded a neat through ball into the path of Lineth Beerensteyn who outpaced the Arsenal defence
       and finished confidently past Manuela Zinsberger. Parity came on the hour, Frida Maanum floated
       a corner into the area and Vivianne Miedema rose highest to power in a header from six yards.
           Arsenal therefore maintain their lead of two points over Juventus with Olympique Lyonnais
       a further point behind, the reigning Champions finally getting their first victory as a Signe Bruun
       double and Melvine Malard gave them a 3-0 win at FC Zurich Frauen.
           Elsewhere, there was plenty of British interest in Group D as Barcelona defeated Bayern
       Munich 3-0. Barcelona, whose line up included Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh, scored through
       Geyse, Aitana Bonamti and Claudia Pina to
                                        GROUP A               P  W D  L  F  A Pts GD
       inflict  a  first  defeat  on  Bayern,  for  whom
                                        CHELSEA                3  3  0  0 11 0  9  14
       Georgia Stanway played. In the other group PARIS SAINT GERMAIN  3  1  1  1  5  1  4  5
       game, Cloe Lacasse gave Benfica a 1-0 win REAL MADRID   3  1  1  1  2  2  4  10
       over  FC  Rosengard,  for  whom  Fiona VLLAZNIA         3  0  0  3  0 15  0  1
       Brown appeared as a second half substitute. GROUP B    P  W D  L  F  A Pts
           VfL  Wolfsburg  and  Roma  remain  VFL WOLFSBURG    3  2  1  0  7  1  7
       level on points at the top of Group B after  ROMA       3 3  2 1  1 0  0 2  6 4  4 8  7 3
                                        ST POLTEN
       sharing a 1-1 draw, Valentina Giacinti giving  SLAVIA PRAGUE  3  0  0  3  0  4  0
       Roma an early lead and Ewa Pajor levelling  GROUP C    P  W D  L  F  A Pts
       just  after  the  half  hour.  The  other  group ARSENAL  3  2  1  0  9  3  7
       game saw St Polten win for the first time, JUVENTUS     3  1  2  0  4  2  5  4
       beating Slavia Prague 1-0 with an injury OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS  3  1  1  1  5  6  4  -2
       time goal from Maria Mikolajova.  FC ZURICH FRAUEN      3  0  0  3  1  8  0  4
                                        GROUP D               P  W D  L  F  A Pts  -3
           The Champions League will return on
                                        BARCELONA              3  3  0  0 16 1  9  -4
       7/8 December in what promises to be a busy
                                        BAYERN MUNICH          3  2  0  1  5  6  6  -9
       month  with  the  group  stage  being  SL BENFICA       3  1  0  2  3 12  3  -10
       completed.                       FC ROSENGARD          3  0  0  3  2  7  0  -10
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