Glasgow maintain Paris dream
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
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Glasgow City FC "won't be going to Paris for a holiday" warned coach Eddie Wolecki Black and captain Leanne Ross as they assessed their 2-0 quarter-final deficit.
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Glasgow City FC captain Leanne Ross and head coach Eddie Wolecki Black are refusing to believe their dream of reaching the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals is over despite losing the first leg of their last-eight tie against Paris Saint-Germain 2-0.
Goals in each half from Anissa Lahmari and Kheira Hamraoui put the French club firmly in command ahead of Saturday's return leg at the Parc des Princes. But City captain Ross still thinks they are capable of turning the tie around against their fellow first-time quarter-finalists.
"We are disappointed in terms of the result and felt we could have done better but we've given a good account of ourselves," said midfielder Ross. "We defended well and worked hard as a team and we know what we have to work on now for the next leg. It's absolutely not over yet.
"They scored two goals but we have shown we can compete with them and I think there are things we can improve on – plus, we can score against anyone. We sat a little bit too deep so if we can step up and put a wee bit of pressure on them further up the pitch, that's something we'll work on during the week. We are 2-0 down so we have to try something to get ourselves back in the tie."
It is a feeling echoed by her coach Wolecki Black, who saw enough in the Scottish champions' second-half performance to give him hope ahead of the sequel in Paris. "We knew it was always going to be a difficult tie," Black said.
"It meant a lot to PSG to come here and get the win. We were always geared to try and keep it really tight and hopefully push on in the last 20 minutes or so, but unfortunately a set piece and an own goal have killed us. We limited them to far less chances in the second half and we looked a bit more threatening ourselves. That was a big thing for us at half-time.
"We knew we needed to get ourselves higher up the park. You can't just sit and defend your own box for the whole game because you will lose something eventually, so the positives were we moved ten yards up the pitch which is something we'll work on next week – to try and provide more of a threat. I won't be going to Paris for a holiday, that's for sure."