Chelsea took control of their quarter-final match in the Champions League against Ajax with a dominant performance, securing a large lead after the first leg. The game was held in the Netherlands where a record-breaking crowd of 35,991 fans attended the women’s football match.
Following an exhilarating 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Friday evening, Chelsea delivered a more controlled performance, resulting in a 2-0 win. Lauren James scored the first goal and Sjoeke Nüsken scored twice, similar to the previous game on Friday, leading Chelsea to their fifth win in a span of 16 days. This marked their fifth game out of eight in March.
“I commended the players for their professionalism in all aspects,” stated manager Emma Hayes.
Chelsea maintained their starting lineup from their win against Arsenal, with Nüsken and James continuing to lead the attack. In the previous game against Everton, Nüsken played as a centre-back. Hayes praised Nüsken’s versatility and ability, stating that she excels in any position she plays. Hayes even joked about potentially putting her in the goal position in the next game just to see how she would perform.
For the home team, Kay-Lee de Sanders partnered the 18-year-old Isa Kardinaal at the back with Sherida Spitse suspended, while the 16-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes, Tiny Hoekstra and Rosa van Gool returned to the starting XI after being rested for the team’s midweek 5-1 defeat of Jong Ajax in the Dutch cup.
Hayes said her side knew how good Ajax were – this was a team that earned home wins over Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma at the Johan Cruyff Arena to earn their place in the quarter-finals. The manager said before the match that Chelsea “certainly won’t be going into the game with our eyes shut”, but they took time to get going and Ajax would go close in the seventh minute, with the club’s new record goalscorer Romée Leuchter hammering an effort off the base of the post with Hannah Hampton beaten.
Yohannes made history by becoming the first 16-year-old to play in a Champions League quarter-final, a feat previously achieved by Chelsea’s Jess Carter in 2014 for Birmingham City against Arsenal. However, Yohannes received a yellow card for a tackle on Guro Reiten, which means she will not be able to play in the second leg at Stamford Bridge next week.
Chelsea dominated despite the early nervy moments, with 59% possession in the first half and 24 attacks to Ajax’s four and they capitalised on their superiority inside 20 minutes. It was unlucky for Ajax, with the ball taking a deflection to fall into the path of James behind them and the forward rifled it in. The flag was up but James was clearly onside and, after a VAR check, the technology introduced for the knockout stage, the goal was given.
Chelsea believed they had increased their lead when Reiten’s header went off track from James’s pass, resulting in the ball bouncing off her heel and landing fortuitously for her to tap in. However, following a lengthy VAR review, Nüsken was determined to have impeded Kardinaal, who could have potentially cleared the ball from the goal line.
Following the inspection, Hayes’s team quickly re-established their two-goal lead. Kadeisha Buchanan executed a remarkable Cruyff turn, then played a precise pass that split the defense and reached Reiten. The forward then delivered a left-footed shot, allowing Nüsken to easily tap it in from close distance.
In the second half, Chelsea did not have the same attacking intensity as the first, but they managed to score a third goal in the 83rd minute. Substitute Catarina Macario set up Nüsken for a close-range header to secure the goal.
Ajax put up a fight to narrow the lead before their upcoming match in London, but they were unsuccessful in scoring, leaving them with a difficult task in their away game. “As we say in the Netherlands, anything can happen because the ball is round,” commented Suzanne Bakker, the Ajax manager, on their prospects in the return match.
Hayes advised against becoming too comfortable in the second half. She reminded, “It’s only the first part of the game.” She added, “Sometimes when you play away, you win matches like this and then you let your guard down at home and have a different performance… I believe we should take this caution seriously and communicate it to the players.”
Source: theguardian.com
