Chelsea cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with two games to spare at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. A comfortable 3-0 win for last year’s semi-finalists, thanks to goals from Lucy Bronze, Wieke Kaptein and Ève Périsset, saw them claim an impressive 11th victory in a row.
It is safe to say that it has been a dream start to the season for Chelsea, who have a perfect record in all competitions and are leading the WSL and Champions League Group B. Sonia Bompastor was delighted by her side’s early progression, which eases the pressure on the run-in to the winter break.
“I’m really happy,” the Chelsea manager said. “I told the players that tonight it was an opportunity for us to qualify. We remain top of the table, which is also something we wanted to achieve. We were able to rotate the squad and give opportunities to players to play in the Champions League again and we could rest some.”
Rotation has been a key feature of Bompastor’s tenure. She made six changes to the team that started Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City, with Zecira Musovic, Catarina Macario, Maelys Mpomé, Ashley Lawrence, Oriane Jean-François and Kaptein coming in.
“I’ve said it from the start of the season,” Bompastor said. “We play so many games and we need to make sure everyone is involved. It’s also the opportunity for me to show my trust in my players and squad.”
With Real Madrid beating FC Twente earlier in the evening, Chelsea needed a point to reach the knockouts. For Celtic, however, only a win could give them a lifeline in the competition. Elena Sadiku made three changes from the side that had lost to Rangers in the Scottish Women’s Premier League at the weekend, with the introduction of Célya Barclais, Jennifer Smith and Colette Cavanagh.
Chelsea conceded early in their 2-1 win at Celtic Park last week, giving them some food for thought against a competitive Celtic outfit. It soon became clear, however, that the English champions were not going to allow the same thing to happen twice.
They were helped by the fact that they were ahead after 65 seconds when Bronze hit an instinctive volley past Kelsey Daugherty in the Celtic goal. It was a strike that meant the England international has now scored for four different teams in the Women’s Champions League.
The tempo was set from that moment. Chelsea dominated, finding particular joy in the linkup between Bronze and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd down the right. The hosts were just lacking an end product, a mixture of wayward finishing and a resilient Celtic defence at times leaving Bompastor jumping up and down in frustration.
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A second goal was never far away, however, and a brilliant looping header from Kaptein after another well-worked corner saw Chelsea go in at the break with one foot in the quarter-finals.
It will have done little for Celtic’s confidence to see Mayra Ramírez coming on at half-time and she was an immediate thorn in their tiring defence. Her introduction was closely followed by that of Erin Cuthbert, the former Rangers midfielder welcomed by an array of boos from the travelling support.
Bompastor is known for her ability to develop youth players and one with a bright future is Lola Brown. With five minutes left, the 17-year-old was rewarded with her club and Champions League debut. It was the icing on the cake for the Chelsea academy product, who signed her first professional contract earlier this week.
With the final kick of the match, the substitute Périsset converted a penalty to make the scoreline even more comfortable for the hosts. A return to the knockout stages once again gave Chelsea much to celebrate in front of their home fans. Celtic meanwhile return home, knocked out of the competition after their first appearance in the group stages.
