On a very satisfying night for Manchester City, perhaps the most pleasing element was that they did not even need to call on Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw.
While giving their talismanic striker some precious rest, Manchester City’s European campaign finally came roaring into life as they put four goals past Inter to record their first Women’s Champions League victory of the season and greatly improve their prospects of reaching the knockout stages.
Related: Manchester City’s Kerstin Casparij: ‘I love football – but it takes over your life’
City had to come from behind after a slow start but two goals from Aoba Fujino put them ahead before half-time, and second-half efforts from Kerstin Casparij and Grace Clinton gave them a 4-1 victory in Monza that doubled their points tally, after their draws against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
The last two of those draws were frustrating results for Manchester City on home turf but they were far more fluid and clinical on the road, in the second half particularly, despite deploying a much-rotated team.
With more than half an eye on Saturday’s potentially pivotal meeting with their domestic title rivals Chelsea, Andrée Jeglertz rested several key players, including their top-scorer Shaw, the in-form winger Lauren Hemp and the ever-dependable midfield metronome Yui Hasegawa, all of whom were substitutes. Hemp and Hasegawa came on in the second half but Jeglertz will have been delighted to have eventually taken such a commanding position in the contest that he was able to rest Shaw throughout.
Chelsea were forced to settle for a point after being held to a goalless draw against Hacken in their Women’s Champions League clash.
The Blues had two goals disallowed in a frustrating first half in Gothenburg, while Jennifer Falk made some important stops throughout the contest. Sonia Bompastor's side remain unbeaten in the Champions League, but ultimately slipped to their second draw from four outings.
Wieke Kaptein headed home for Chelsea in the opening minutes, but the goal was chalked off when Lexi Potter was ruled to have fouled goalkeeper Falk.
Chelsea dominated possession and soon had the ball in the net again when Melvine Malard hit a low strike into the bottom corner, but the forward was marginally offside in the buildup.
Maika Hamano’s looping strike bounced off the crossbar during a late surge from Chelsea but Hacken defended their box well deep into stoppage time to clinch a valuable point.
In the other early game, Real Madrid beat Paris FC 3-0 with all the goals arriving in the second half including from substitutes Lineth Beerensteyn and Linda Caicedo. Madrid rose to sixth above Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, who faced each other later on Tuesday at Parc des Princes.
Roma defeated Servette 2-1 larer on Wednesday and Bayern Munich rose to second in the standings behind Barcelona by winning 2-1 at Paris Saint-Germain. The top three in the 18-team table at the start of play were Barcelona, OL Lyonnes and Arsenal who all play later in the week. Barcelona hosts Arsenal on Thursday. Agencies
“I think it shows the depth in the group and how much talent we’ve got,” Clinton told Disney+. “So many girls can come in and score goals and contribute. We’ve got really great squad depth, so it’s good to use it.”
Initially things did not look quite so harmonious. Ivana Andrés’ pinpoint cross was met by Elisa Bartoli’s header for Inter’s opening goal, as the hosts took the lead somewhat against the run of play. Falling behind against an Inter team who have not conceded in any of their six Women’s Serie A matches this season was not an ideal situation for City, but they remained patient.
They levelled when Fujino timed her run perfectly to latch on to Laura Blindkilde Brown’s classy, defence-splitting through ball. Fujino slotted in her second with ease from close range, just a minute before the end of the first half, on the rebound after a Mary Fowler effort was only half cleared.
Inter almost levelled three minutes after the restart but Ayaka Yamashita did superbly well to get a fingertip to Haley Bugeja’s bending effort, which looked destined for the bottom corner. The WSL champions were looking the stronger, though, aided by fine performances from Blindkilde Brown and Sam Coffey in midfield.
Coffey delivered a clever ball into the box to find Casparij through the middle and the Dutchwoman’s finish into the corner gave the English side a two-goal cushion. They began to turn on the style from then, spreading the ball into wide spaces much more quickly than they had earlier in the contest, embracing the lively movement of the half-time substitute Hemp and Iman Beney. Hemp dinked a delightful cross to the far post for Clinton to make it 4-1 from a tight angle, with the delivery leaving the travelling fans purring.
Yamashita pulled off her second world-class save of the night, this time a quick reaction stop, to deny Michela Cambiaghi from close range, as Inter attempted to claw their way back into the match in the closing stages but City’s game-management was more than adequate as they calmly completed an important away victory. They will head to Stamford Bridge in a rich vein of form.
“Inter played well, so this is not an easy game, especially away,” said Casparij. “It makes us feel great going into Chelsea, which again, will be a tough game. Today, starting with quite a few rotations, I think we did phenomenally.”
