Manchester City dealt Sonia Bompastor her first defeat as Chelsea boss thanks to Vivianne Miedema’s double off the bench to secure a 2-0 advantage in the first leg of the Women’s Champions League quarter-final.
Chelsea, unbeaten in 31 games heading into this fixture, now face a mountain to climb in the second leg on March 27 as they look to secure an elusive first Champions League trophy.
The second of four meetings in the space of 12 days between these two sides, after Chelsea secured the League Cup on Saturday, looked as if it might end in stalemate until Miedema climbed off the bench after the restart to lash home the opener on the hour mark.
Blues goalkeeper Hannah Hampton did well to tip Laia Aleixandri’s header onto the bar in the build-up but was left helpless when it fell to the substitute from point-blank range.
Miedema celebrates her opener
Pressure began to mount on the hosts as time ticked down, with Mayra Ramirez seeing a goal disallowed for offside and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd crashing an effort off the woodwork, but any City fears of walking away without a win were addressed when Miedema poked home her second to double the advantage late on.
Handing Chelsea their first defeat of the campaign and firing themselves into a commanding position in the tie was made all the more impressive when considering City were without star forward Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Japan international Aoba Fujino due to injury.
They will now be tasked with replicating these same successes at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday when the two sides meet again in the Women’s Super League, before travelling to Stamford Bridge four days later to defend their advantage in Europe.
Miedema: ‘Special’ reaction to League Cup loss
Man City match-winner Vivianne Miedema speaking to TNT Sports:
“This should be our standard. We were really disappointed after Saturday [the League Cup final].
“We’ve had some special Champions League nights here and this one really sums it all up!”
On being left on the bench to start with: “I do feel well, but I am not at the stage where I can go four times 90 minutes. I am really happy I came on second half and could help the team.”
On big Champions League nights: “They are special. We all want to play in the Champions League, it is something we are still fighting for in the league.
“Today was special, and hopefully we can put the same performance in next week.”
Bompastor: I take full responsibility
Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor:
“A lot of frustration. For me, it is about analysing now. I take all the responsibility for the performance and result. I am hard on myself but people expect the manager to turn things around.
Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor on the sidelines during the defeat to Man City
“Today is a difficult night and sometimes it happens in football. It is okay for everyone to be disappointed but from tomorrow, we need to analyse the performance.
“It’s difficult tonight but my job is to make sure from tomorrow, we have a positive mindset. What you can control is in the future. We have only lost one game in the season, it was important but it happens.
“I will stay confident going into the second leg. We have a lot of quality in the squad and the freshness will be important. We have depth in the squad.
“But the only positive thing tonight is we have the second leg at home next week, and everything will be possible.
Bronze: Chelsea confident we can turn tie around
Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze speaking to TNT Sports:
“I don’t think we were good enough. I don’t think we had enough effort in our press. We were sloppy on our passing.
“City were better organised. We were miles off our game. Sonia said that at half-time.
Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze reacts after the 2-0 defeat to Man City
“It improved a little bit in the second half, but that’s obviously when they got in and got their goals.”
On why the performance dipped: “That’s what football is. We’ve had ups and downs. We’ve had a fantastic first half of the season.
“Everyone ups their game against Chelsea because they want to be the first team to beat us. That’s what’s happened today.
“We have to go back and be better for the weekend and for the second leg. Although we are two goals down, we are completely confident that we can turn this around.”
