Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea: Vivianne Miedema goals earn quarter-final lead

Manchester City lead the all-English UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final after Vivianne Miedema struck twice to earn a 2-0 home win against Chelsea.

Aiming to reach a first semi since 2017/18, City performed brightly four days after losing to Chelsea in the English League Cup final and Miedema, introduced at half-time tonight, found the target on the hour. Chelsea pushed hard for an equaliser, hitting the crossbar through Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, but Miedema was to score again late on.

Match in brief: Miedema gets the goal

Kerolin made her Champions League debut for a depleted City team and went close in the opening two minutes. Chelsea's own January signing Keira Walsh started against one of her former clubs, having recovered from injury, and after the Blues were pinned back early on, they started to produce their own threat.

City still posed danger, however, and both Lily Murphy and Mary Fowler tested Hannah Hampton in quick succession. Catarina Macario then headed over a Lauren James cross for Chelsea, but things were understandably tight between two teams in the midst of four consecutive meetings.

With the scoreline 0-0 at half-time, City interim coach Nick Cushing – only appointed last week – introduced Miedema after the restart, while Wieke Kaptein came on for Chelsea, who tried their luck again when James' shot from distance was denied by Ayaka Yamashita.

On the hour mark, City finally made the breakthrough. Following a corner, the ball had already been cleared off the line when Laia Aleixandri's header was tipped onto the bar by Hampton, allowing Miedema to bury the follow-up.

Miedema forced a Hampton save soon after as City looked to increase their lead, although Chelsea were not done yet as they chased an equaliser. With ten minutes left, Rytting Kaneryd fired against the bar and fellow substitute Maika Hamano got to the rebound, only for her Japan squad-mate Yamashita to save.

Ultimately, it was City who had enjoyed the final word, doubling their advantage with a minute left as Miedema was set up by Kerolin to produce an emphatic finish.

Visa Player of the Match: Vivianne Miedema (Man City)

Vivianne Miedema with her awardUEFA via Getty Images

"Miedema made the winning impact, coming on at half-time in the No9 position. Direct in her play, she scored the opening goal. She was the difference in a game of fine margins, in the right place, and produced a quality of finish for her first strike. She continued to make threatening runs to create chances and then scored her second."
UEFA Technical Observer Group

Faye Hackwell, match reporter

It's advantage Man City at the halfway stage of this quarter-final and they become the first team of the season to win against Chelsea, as the Blues' unbeaten run under Sonia Bompastor comes to an end in her 29th game. Cushing will be proud of the way his players bounced back from losing to the same opposition four days ago by executing a performance full of grit and determination. Miedema capitalised on their best chances of the game to score and Chelsea were unable to make the most of the opportunities they carved out for themselves.

Vivianne Miedema makes it 2-0UEFA via Getty Images

Reaction

Nick Cushing, Man City interim coach: "It was the complete performance. We had to defend and suffer at times. We also had to play on the counterattack at times, which we're not known for, and we had some good moments with the ball as well. Getting the second goal was important for us, although we know it's going to be difficult at Stamford Bridge.

"[Miedema] had the impact the team needed, the impact we know she's capable of. There was a plan tonight with the quick turnaround [between games] to put her on at half-time, to cut her minutes and allow her to go in and be the difference – and she's world class."

Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea coach: "It was a tough result and disappointing. The only positive in this situation is that we have a second leg at Stamford Bridge next week in front of our own fans, so we still have hope it will be possible to qualify.

"We didn't play with a lot of desire. We need to run to make more effort as a team, but also as individuals. Sometimes it's easy to talk about tactics, but football is about running and making sure you put all your effort in on the pitch, so maybe we were a little bit sloppy in that aspect tonight."

Vivianne Miedema, Man City forward and Visa Player of the Match: "I'm honestly happy that I could come on and help the team. It was an amazing night tonight. This is the standard that we need to set ourselves. I think today gives us a lot of confidence going into the next two games.

"It's a really special [win]. We've had a couple of special Champions League nights here this season. We had the win over Barcelona as well, but this one feels really really good."

Kerolin, Man City forward: "It felt amazing out there. I was really excited [to make a Champions League debut], and I think the team did really well, so I'm really pleased to be part of this team and to make history at home.

"[Miedema] is really important to the team, she's amazing, and she was our 'super sub'. We had this strategy for her to come on and change the game for us, and whenever she's in the box, we believe in her, so I'm really happy for her."

Lucy Bronze, Chelsea defender: "I think we weren't really 'at it' today, both on and off the ball. We could have pressed them a lot better. There were flashes when we were good on the ball, but we turned over the ball quite a lot, so we couldn't really create too many clear-cut chances until the second half. Then we let them in a bit too easily as well."

Key stats

• Miedema scored her 30th and 31st Champions League goals in her 35th appearance.
• The result ended Sonia Bompastor's 28-game unbeaten start as Chelsea coach (W26 D2). Overall, Chelsea had been unbeaten in 31 competitive games going back to 1 May 2024.
• This is the second all-English tie in this competition after Birmingham City vs Arsenal in the 2013/14 quarter-finals. Birmingham won 1-0 at home in the first leg, then 2-0 away.
• Chelsea beat City 2-1 in the English League Cup final on Saturday, and they meet again in Manchester in the Women's Super League on Sunday before the Stamford Bridge second leg.

Line-ups

Man City: Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouahabi; Roord, Hasegawa, Park (Blindkilde Brown 75); Kerolin (Layzell 90), Fowler (Coombs 65), Murphy (Miedema 46)

Chelsea: Hampton; Bronze, Björn, Bright, Baltimore; Cuthbert, Walsh (Nüsken 59); Beever-Jones, Macario (Kaptein 46), James (Rytting Kaneryd 59); Ramírez (Hamano 73)