Chelsea defeat Lyon on penalties, Knock the holders out of the UWCL

Chelsea ended Lyon’s defense of their Women’s Champions League title in a penalty shoot-out. The reigning holders named the tournament’s top scorer Ada Hegerberg on their substitutes’ bench while Millie Bright was unable to shake a knee injury from the first leg for Emma Hayes’s side.

Chelsea knock Lyon out of UWCL

In the penalty shootout, the London side prevailed 4-3 and has set up the semi-final date with FC Barcelona for a place in the final.

The game

Delphine Cascarino stung Ann-Katrin Berger’s palms early on before a scuffed Magdalena Eriksson clearance gifted a chance to Signe Bruun, who fired over from 15 yards out. The Blues gradually felt their way into the game and almost extended their advantage when Lauren James set Sam Kerr away on the counterattack but was thwarted by an onrushing Christiane Endler.

Lyon’s goalkeeper proved the busier as the first half’s midway stage approached at Stamford Bridge by again coming off her line to have the beating of Kerr for a second time. She produced a brilliant one-handed stop to tip James’s effort from a narrow-angle over the crossbar in the pulsating end-to-end encounter.

Kerr turned provider just minutes later as she pinged a ball to Melanie Leupolz on the edge of the area before the midfielder sent an effort whistling narrowly off-target. Another attempt from distance, this time by Lyon’s Lindsey Horan, saw the visitors continue to step up their early momentum.

The visitors finally delivered a breakthrough in the final 15 minutes of normal time as Vanessa Gilles squeezed a shot past Berger at her near post from Horan’s cross. As extra-time beckoned, Chelsea had to defend resolutely to stop the European champions from snatching a crucial second. Lyon continued to push at the start of the extended 30 minutes as Horan flashed a shot narrowly wide of goal before Bacha fired an effort off target after a corner was headed clear.

The Extra time and Penalties

Midway through the second half of extra time Sara Däbritz drilled low past Berger to send Sonia Bompastor’s side on the cusp of a meeting with Barcelona. But Chelsea was given a lifeline in the final seconds of added time after James was fouled in the penalty area, which was controversially sent to a VAR review before Maren Mjelde stepped up and equalized.

In the shootout, Mjelde, Kerr, and Jessie Fleming all converted while Lyon saw Dzsenifer Marozsán, Hegerberg, and Däbritz follow suit, but both goalkeepers saved successive efforts from James and Wendie Renard respectively.