Past champions off to winning starts
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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Former champions Umeå IK and FCR 2001 Duisburg began their campaigns with 3-0 wins, while Breidablik were one of two teams to hit eight on Matchday 1 of the qualifying round.
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Last season's beaten semi-finalists − Umeå IK and FCR 2001 Duisburg − were among the winners on Matchday 1 of the 2010/11 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying round. Elsewhere, there were big victories for Breidablik, Glasgow City FC, ASD Bardolino Verona, FC NSA Sofia, Brøndby IF and Everton. UEFA.com rounds up the action.
Group 1
Sofia thrashed Gazi Üniversitesi SK 7-0 in Denmark. Leading 2-0 at half-time, the Bulgarian team stepped up a gear after the break, captain Silvia Radoyska scoring with efforts on 68 and 84 minutes. Brøndby also impressed as Sanne Troelsgaard Nielsen and Henriette Dahl both scored twice in a 6-0 success against Moldova's FC Roma Calfa.
Group 2
Everton were also among the goals, defeating Faroese outfit KÍ Klaksvík 6-0 in Lithuania. England international Fara Williams scored twice, her first coming from the penalty spot. Rasa Imanalijeva grabbed the headlines in the other game with a hat-trick for hosts Gintra Universitetas in their 4-0 triumph against ZFK Borec from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Group 3
Umeå got their campaign under way with a 3-0 defeat of ASA Tel-Aviv in Cyprus. The scoreline does not tell the whole story, however, with the two-time winners requiring two goals in the final four minutes to put the result beyond doubt. Apollon Limassol LFC had no such struggles, scoring four times inside 33 minutes before cruising to a 6-1 victory against WFC SFK 2000 Sarajevo.
Group 4
Laëtitia Tonazzi stole the show in FCF Juvisy Essonne's encounter with Romania's FCM Târgu Mureş, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 triumph in Iceland. Breidablik went three goals better, however, with Harpa Thorsteinsdottir claiming a treble of her own in an 8-1 romp against FC Levadia Tallinn.
Group 5
Captain Melania Gabbiadini also walked away with the matchball after Bardolino Verona scored seven without reply, the Italian team defeating debutants Swansea City Ladies AFC in Slovenia. ŽNK Krka against FC Baia Zugdidi was abandoned because of a waterlogged pitch and will now be played on Sunday.
Group 6
Five different players scored and three were sent off as Russia's FC Rossiyanka overwhelmed Croatian hosts WFC Osijek 5-0. Oksana Shmachkova (73), who struck the opener, was dismissed for Rossiyanka, while captain Violeta Baban (73) and Dragica Cepernić saw red for Osijek. Republic of Ireland side St Francis beat Portuguese outfit 1° Dezembro 4-1 in the other game.
Group 7
Duisburg, champions in 2009, defeated ŠK Slovan Bratislava 3-0. Four days after winning the Gold Ball and Shoe in Germany's triumphant FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup campaign, Alexandra Popp scored for Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side, who lost Inka Grings to injury before kick-off. Northern Irish hosts Newtownabbey Strikers WFC endured a day to forget, though, with Clare Gemmell, Rachel Corsie and Leanne Ross all notching two goals in Glasgow's 8-0 success.
The mini-tournaments continue on Saturday and conclude on Tuesday, when the group winners and two runners-up with the best records against the teams first and third in their pool progress to the knockout phase.