PARIS FC vs CHELSEA Women
The last dance of the group stages.
Ultimately, it was not meant to be with Paris FC. After beating both Wolfsburg's and Arsenal's women's teams in the qualification round for the Champions League, they missed out on that coveted second-place group spot to qualify for the quarter-finals. The visitors' enormous defeat of 4-0 ended their Champions League journey. They needed a win against the Blues to qualify for the last eight.
The players of Chelsea are all in agreement they want to win the women's Champions League in Emma Hayes's final season with the Blues after 10-plus years as the manager. The goals continued even after they had qualified. There were nine changes to the lineup in proper Hayes form, who wishes to rest some crucial players and give others game time, as she is so familiar with playing her players on rotation. Only Kirby and Eve Perisset retained their places in the starting XI.
Let's talk about the Chelsea minefield Jelena Cankovic, who was one of the nine changes to the line up. Canovic assisted Fran Kirby and Mia Hischil for the game's first two goals and was voted player of the match. She spoke to UEFA, saying, “ I am thrilled with the team and my performance and to finish the group stage on a high. I’m thrilled I could contribute to the win.”
Chelsea were in the lead in the first 10 minutes, with Kirby heading into the goals. Fishel made it double and made Paris pay for the lack of cutting-edge defensive work with a Cankovic classic delivery behind Chiamaka Nndozie.
Two more goals came in the second half for Chelsea, with the formidable Guro Rieten hitting the mack of the net after a goalkeeping mishap and Maren Mjelde flicking a corner past Nnadozie.
Although Musiovic did keep a clean sheet, she was forced to claw away a Bourdieu strike, while Gateane Thiney narrowly missed a lob from distance but hit the crossbar for Paris FC.
After the injury of Sam Kerr there was concern that Chelsea's goals would dry up and be few and far between but this is another excellent display on other team players who can produce in the final third. Especially after 4 hours in 4 competitions in the space of just 13 days, it shows the lack of player welfare by the depth of Hayes's squad, which she reassured can cope with the demand for rotation.
The seeding for the quarter-final draw will take place on Tuesday, 6 February. Chelsea will avoid holders Barcelona and right-time winner Lyon and PSG in the next round.
LINE UP
PARIS FC FEMINIMES- 4-2-3-1
- Nnadozie
- Soyer
- Hocine
- Greboval
- Bogaert
- Le Mouel
- Croboz
- Mateo
- They
- Dufour
- Bourdieu
SUBS USED
- N’Dongala
- Korosec
- Fleury
- Bussy
- Ribadeneira
SUBS NOT USED
- Marques
- Hunter
- Sissoko
- Flagellat
CHELSEA WOMEN- 4-2-3-1
- Musovic
- Lawrence
- Buchanan
- Mjelde
- Perisset
- Nusken
- Ingle
- Kirby
- Cankovic
- Beever-Jones
- Fishel
SUBS USED
- Charles
- Rytting Kaneryd
- Reiten
SUBS NOT USED
- Carter
- James
- Cuthbert
- Hampton
Yellow cards
- Ingles (CHELSEA)
- Korosec ( PARIS FC)
MATCH STATS
Possession
Paris FC 42% Chelsea 58%
Shots
Paris FC 14 Chelsea 6
Shots on target
Paris FC 1 Chelsea 4
Corners
Paris FC 5 Chelsea 2
Fouls
Paris FC 12 Chelsea 9
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