Marta magic eases Umeå ahead

Marta was in irresistible form in the first leg of the UEFA Women's Cup final at the Råsunda Stadion in Stockholm today, scoring twice and setting up the other as the holders Umeå IK defeated great rivals 1. FFC Frankfurt 3-0.

Drilled second
The German champions were simply overwhelmed by the Brazilian striker's blend of speed, trickery and endeavour, Marta setting the tone for a superb display in the tenth minute with an audacious piece of trickery which left the experienced Tina Wunderlich flummoxed. The Brazilian scored six minutes later and added another in the 58th minute, shortly after playing a one-two with Frida Östberg which freed up the midfield player to drill in the second.

Ljungberg missing
The FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz lined up in attack for Frankfurt, while Hanna Ljungberg, who finished third, was Umeå's only absentee through injury. Frankfurt, the inaugural winners of this competition two years ago, were without influential midfield player Renate Lingor, Nia Künzer, Sandra Albertz and Patrizia Barucha, although Pia Wunderlich and Steffi Jones were both fit enough to start.

Headed chance
A tense and tight first leg appeared to be in prospect, with both sides keen to make it two wins in this competition as well as being crowned Europe's premier club, yet Umeå dominated an open game from the outset. Marta was at the hub of their most flowing moves, and it was from her eleventh-minute corner that Marie Hammarström headed over when she had just Frankfurt goalkeeper Marleen Wissink to beat after stealing in unnoticed at the far post.

Kalmari assist
Three minutes later the excellent Malin Moström served another warning of Umeå's growing threat when heading a cross from Hanna Marklund straight at Wissink. The Dutch goalkeeper could do little about the opening goal, though, Marta turning the ball in while hugging the left-hand post after Laura Kalmari showed skill and pace to outwit Christina Zerbe and fire a ball across the face of goal via a deflection off Judith Affeld.

Defensive barrier
With six minutes of the half remaining Marta so nearly made it 2-0. The Brazilian latched on to another slick Kalmari pass and held off Tina Wunderlich only to shoot straight at the advancing Wissink with her left foot. It was 43 minutes before Prinz was seen as an attacking force, the German international escaping from Marklund but finding Moström a barrier too many - a passage of play indicative of Umeå's relentless teamwork.

Crisp drive
The second half was equally one-sided, with Östberg scoring a second goal in the 49th minute which was as brilliant as it was deserved. The midfield player broke from the centre circle, linked up with Marta and sent a crisp drive whistling past Wissink from outside the area. The two-goal margin allowed Umeå to relax and nine minutes later they were 3-0 up, Marta racing on to Östberg's curled ball out of defence, outstripping the defence and poking the ball low into the Frankfurt net.

Rapturous acclaim
In the 62nd minute Anna Sjöström shot wide when in space with just Wissink to beat, and nine minutes later Marta missed a tremendous chance to finish with a hat-trick. Even though she could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper after cutting inside the last defender to improve her angle, the South American still left the field to rapturous acclaim after a truly great display at the home of Swedish football that left Frankfurt with it all to do in the 5 June return.