In-form Lyon and Chelsea stay perfect in Women's Champions League

In Group B, Chelsea came from behind against Celtic to preserve their perfect record and Real Madrid put seven past Twente. Record eight-time winners Lyon travelled to the Italian capital with both sides level at the top of the group on two wins apiece.

Melchie Dumornay's first-half brace put the French side firmly in control, her second coming three minutes before the interval via an audacious chip from inside the centre circle. Vanessa Gilles poked in from close range in the 52nd minute to rubber-stamp an authoritative performance by Joe Montemurro's side.

"We're pleased to have won and to be top of the group, especially without conceding a goal," said Dumornay. "Obviously, I've always wanted to score a goal like that one in a big competition like this. All my team-mates were telling me to shoot because the keeper was off her line."

Wolfsburg, the 2013 and 2014 Champions League winners, started their latest campaign with back-to-back defeats against Lyon and Roma - leaving them third in Group A with no goals scored and in real danger of elimination. Their 5-0 win in Istanbul keeps them third place, three points behind Roma in second.

"We want to get out of the group by working hard and doing our best for the (three) remaining matches," said Wolfsburg forward Rebecka Blomqvist. "We are in a very tough group. But we also have the power to achieve this."

Defender Joelle Wedemeyer's 24th-minute header from a corner gave the Germans the lead. Blomqvist tapped in on 63 minutes to double the advantage. The Swedish striker stroked home a third for the team with 13 minutes remaining and then rounded off her hat-trick six minutes into added time.

Vivien Endemann smashed home a fifth for Wolfsburg in the 97th minute. "We are very happy with the result," added Blomqvist. "I am proud to show my best out on the pitch. It's great to contribute to the team."

A third successive defeat in three outings leaves the Turks bottom of the table with just one goal scored and 14 conceded.

 

November 13, 2024

Chelsea hold on

At Parkhead, Chelsea moved to nine points with a 2-1 victory over winless Celtic. The hosts took a surprise lead with just over 20 minutes gone when Murphy Agnew raced through and lifted a finish past goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.

It took the English champions only six minutes to respond, first through Maika Hamano in the 28th minute and then Ashley Lawrence tucked home a rebound four minutes later.

Chelsea were unable to kill off the match in the second half but succeeded nonetheless in holding Celtic at arm's length to see out a narrow victory, despite Aggie Beever-Jones picking up a second yellow card deep in injury time.

"I'm not really happy with our performance but we won, we have the three points," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor told UEFA's website. Real Madrid strolled past Dutch side Twente with a 7-0 win in Spain.

Signe Bruun opened the scoring in the third minute, before centre-half Maria Mendez nodded in her first goal in European football 13 minutes later. Naomie Feller guided in a third on 50 minutes and Caroline Weir soon after curled an unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.

Mendez then doubled her tally in the competition with a second header from a corner three minutes after the hour, before Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho completed the rout. The Spaniards sit second in the group with six points.