Chelsea Women delivered an impressive performance, defeating Twente 3-1 in a Champions League thriller, reinforcing their status as a formidable team in Europe.
Introduction:
Chelsea Women’s team settled for a comprehensive 3-1 win over FC Twente in the latest game of the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage in what was almost all the reasons to boast for Chelsea with Agnes Beever-Jones, Maika Hamano, and Guro Reiten doing fantastic jobs. By the end of the game, Twente started producing some great moments, but Chelsea’s fire power and tactical strictness helped the team take away three vital points at the top of Group B.
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A Last-Minute Change: Rytting Kaneryd for Lauren James
Chelsea’s preparations turned last minute as captain Lauren James suffered an injury in the warm-up phase after Sonia Bompastor surprised everyone with a surprise switch. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd got into the action, and the reshuffle did not appear to impede Chelsea as they took control of the match in just minutes of kick-off.
Twente had prepared a good game plan for the match and it took them all of 8 minutes to find themselves on their heels. Chelsea aggressive press and prompt passing sequences threw pressure on the Dutch side with Rytting Kaneryd soon filling the role that Chelsea had planned for James.
Beever-Jones Spikes the Stalemate
Early in the first half, Chelsea breakthrough came when Agnes Beever-Jones was passed by Kadeisha Buchanan, and she whip a powerful long-range effort that only got a slight deflection that could have easily been saved by Twente goalkeeper Kelsey Clark and went all the way back in to sail into the back of the net putting Chelsea in front. KICK OFF: Chelsea vs Twente- WSL Season, Matchday 15- 19:45 BST – Stamford Bridge- Five live SPORT.
Beever-Jones’s strike was a first Champions League goal for her, but that gave Chelsea the impetus to follow up things and they would not let victory slip just within their reach. She was always a threat to the Twente defense, and her goal shook the confidence of the home side before things actually became registered after the half-hour mark.
Maika Hamano Duplicates Chelsea Women’s Lead
As the first half progressed, Chelsea continued piling on pressure. Maika Hamano had already tested Clark with a few early attempts and finally found the back of the net in spectacular fashion. Spotting Clark off her line, Hamano delivered a perfectly executed dipping shot from outside the penalty area, doubling Chelsea’s lead and adding her name to the scoresheet.
Hamano’s goal was a statement of her vision and great technical skills and still indicated potential at being a future star in Chelsea’s attack, like Beever-Jones. Hamano’s goal was also the first in the Champions League, which made it a special evening for the both of them.
Twente’s Fight Back
Although Twente was two goals down, they didn’t give up. The home side staged a sequence of counterattacks, and in midfield Peddemors and frontman Nikée Van Dijk challenged Chelsea’s goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, but just couldn’t pass the organized Chelsea defense during the first half.
Also keen to make a good impression for her side, Rytting Kaneryd tried her best shot at finding the back of the net with a distance effort, but Clark was in an ideal place to make the stop. The visiting side carried that 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Reiten Puts the Win Chelseas Pocket
Chelsea continued into the second half still throwing in the same level of intensity. Coach Bompastor then opted to introduce some fresh legs in Guro Reiten and Mpomé. Reiten had especially made her presence felt right from the onset. After Hamano had threatened to score her second goal of the night, Chelsea gained a penalty through a handball inside the box.
Reiten advanced to take the penalty kick and casually pushed Clark aside, with the ball going into the bottom-right corner of the net for his third of the match. This would be the third goal-line interruption, but unlike his first two goalline interruptions, Twente did look close to putting the game out of reach at 3-1. But the Dutch team was far from ready to concede.
Twente’s Commiseration Goal: Van Dijk Strikes
But as the game progressed, Twente could manage some more chances, their persistence being rewarded as midfield Peddemors produced an overhead pass that placed Nikée Van Dijk clear of Chelsea’s defense where he calmly finished past Musovic to slot one back for Twente.
Perhaps it was testimony to her talent and determination, however, that Van Dijk should score her fourth of the campaign. As prolific as she has proven in the Belgian Super League to date, she gave Twente exactly what they needed for too long to have any impact on the final result of the match.
Dominance through tactics end
It was Chelsea, however, who had mostly the run of the match even after a late goal from Twente-what they failed to do was to continue building on from this by Bompastor’s tactical discipline. Be it the solid defensive pairing with Buchanan and Björn or the midfield creativity provided by Beever-Jones and Reiten.
Hamano and Rytting Kaneryd were continuously exposing Twente’s defense, while Bompastor’s substitute players made impact right from the word go. Chelsea’s win could only be due to the efforts of the overall team strength in depth and ability to adapt even during an unexpected change, as James and Toni injured his right leg.
Conclusion:
Thus, the 3-1 win puts Chelsea in a comfortable position, awaiting qualification through to the knockout phase. Coach Bompastor can only be more than elated by the performance of her girls, especially with young players like Beever-Jones and Hamano making such a huge contribution. This has been a learning curve for Twente, who will need to regroup fast as they look to bounce back in their next group stage encounter.