The UEFA Women’s Champions League was back for matchday five as all three English sides claimed victory on the European stage.
Chelsea stretched their unbeaten run out to fourteen games as Sonia Bompastor’s Blues continue to tick on Europe’s biggest stage.
Interim head coach Renee Slegers continues to flex her muscles as she holds charge of Arsenal, after the north London club registered a 3-1 victory over Valerenga in Oslo.
Despite early injury heartbreak for Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City side, the team were able to push on and defeat St. Polten 2-0 at the Joie Stadium.
90min have looked at the five key learnings from matchday five of the Women’s Champions League…
Arsenal made it six wins in a row as they flew past Valerenga in a 3-1 victory on Thursday night. A freezing night in Oslo did nothing to deter the Gunners, as they maintained their unbeaten run under the interim management of Renee Slegers.
Alessia Russo was the star of the evening, scoring a brace to solidify the three points for the north London club. The striker played a much wider role than usual, with Slegers opting to start her on the left side of Stina Blackstenius. The change of tune did nothing to deter the England international, as her cool finish into the bottom-right corner gave Arsenal the early lead.
The brace on matchday five of the Champions League marks Russo’s eigth goal in nine competitive fixtures for the Gunners. Early doubts that came along with the striker’s scoreless spell have well and truly been put to bed as she extends her firing form.
It’s fair to say that Chelsea look nothing short of formidable. The Blues took another victim on Wednesday evening as they thumped FC Twente 6-1 under the lights at Stamford Bridge.
Sonia Bompastor has made the task of being Emma Hayes’ successor look easy, having now gone 14 games unbeaten since her arrival. Nothing has particularly changed, but the air of inevitability in this Chelsea side is a scary sight for all opponents.
Despite the ever-growing list of injuries piling up in the physio room, Bompastor continues to manage a heavily rotated side like clockwork. Chelsea don’t seem to miss a beat, even in the moments where they appear most vulnerable. Still without the likes of Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel leading the line, they managed to register six different goal scorers on the scoresheet against Twente.
Not much has changed since the…
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