Chelsea are seeded in the quarter-final draw and will play their second leg at Stamford Bridge given their status as group winners
Chelsea completed their unbeaten Women’s Champions League group stage with a ruthless victory away at Paris FC.
The Blues, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals by winning Group D, started brightly as Fran Kirby headed home a Jelena Cankovic cross to hand her side the lead within the first 10 minutes.
Chelsea made nine changes from the side who beat Brighton 3-0 at the weekend and were often unsettled at the back, but the French hosts couldn’t make the most of their chances.
Mia Fishel made Paris pay for their lack of cutting edge when she headed another Cankovic delivery past Chiamaka Nnadozie to double Chelsea’s lead.
Paris needed a win to be able to qualify for the last eight and battled diligently to try and find a way back, but Julie Dufour epitomised their final-third efforts when she thrashed over from close range early in the second half.
Two more goals came after the break for the Blues, with Guro Reiten poking into the back of the net after a goalkeeping mishap and Maren Mjelde flicking a corner past Nnadozie.
Chelsea’s progression as group winners means they will be seeded in the quarter-final draw – which takes place on Tuesday, 6 February – and will avoid holders Barcelona and eight-time winners Lyon.
Swedish side Hacken also reached the quarter-finals from Group D after beating Real Madrid 1-0, while Paris FC finished third in the group.
Much-changed Chelsea come out on top
With the game being little more than a formality and a busy domestic schedule on the way, it came as no surprise when Emma Hayes rang the changes to her Chelsea side as only Kirby and Eve Perisset retained their places in the starting line-up.
From the beginning, it was evident that Chelsea had not put out a full-strength line-up as Paris found success around the visitors’ box.
Goalkeeper Zecira Musovic was forced to claw away a Mathilde Bourdieu strike, while Gaetane Thiney narrowly missed a lob from distance and thrashed another effort over the crossbar.
Celina Ould Hocine should have done better when she failed to hit the target after meeting a Julie Soyer cross inside the six-yard box.
However, Paris’ advances did little to unsettle Chelsea given Kirby’s opener – enabled by an excellent piece of footwork from Cankovic to chop past her marker – gave them room to make mistakes.
The second-half introduction of Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd bolstered Chelsea going forwards and Reiten’s goal put the game to bed before Mjelde rounded off the evening.
Chelsea saw the game out, emerged with a comfortable scoreline and can now return their attention to domestic matters.
Given that this was the first of four games in four competitions across the space of just 13 days, Chelsea boss Hayes can be reassured that her side can cope with the demand for rotation.
Line-ups
Paris FC Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
16Nnadozie
27Soyer2Hocine19Greboval3Bogaert
15Le Mouël8Corboz
10Matéo17Thiney11Dufour
9Bourdieu
- 16Nnadozie
- 27Soyer
- 2Hocine
- 19Greboval
- 3BogaertSubstituted forN’Dongalaat 86’minutes
- 15Le MouëlSubstituted forKorosecat 67’minutesBooked at 81mins
- 8Corboz
- 10MatéoSubstituted forFleuryat 86’minutes
- 17Thiney
- 11DufourSubstituted forBussyat 75’minutes
- 9BourdieuSubstituted forRibadeiraat 75’minutes
Substitutes
- 1Marques
- 4Korosec
- 5Hunter
- 7Fleury
- 18N’Dongala
- 20Ribadeira
- 22Bussy
- 23Sissoko
- 30Flagellat
Chelsea Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Musovic
12Lawrence26Buchanan18Mjelde15Périsset
6 Nüsken 5 Angel
14Kirby28Cankovic33Beever-Jones
2Fishel
- 1Musovic
- 12Lawrence
- 26Buchanan
- 18 Report
- 15PérissetSubstituted forCharlesat 82’minutes
- 6 Nüsken
- 5IngleBooked at 51mins
- 14KirbySubstituted forRytting Kanerydat 64’minutes
- 28CankovicSubstituted forReitenat 64’minutes
- 33Beever-Jones
- 2Fishel
Substitutes
- 7Carter
- 10James
- 11 Riding
- 19 Riding Kaneryd
- 21Charles
- 22Cuthbert
- 24Hampton
Live Text
Match ends, Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4.
Second Half ends, Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4.
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Sjoeke Nüsken.
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Kadeisha Buchanan.
Foul by Agnes Beever-Jones (Chelsea Women).
Célina Ould Hocine (Paris FC Féminines) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Kessya Bussy (Paris FC Féminines) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Gaëtane Thiney.
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Maren Mjelde.
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Louise Fleury replaces Clara Matéo.
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Melween N’Dongala replaces Lou Bogaert because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Lou Bogaert (Paris FC Féminines).
Substitution, Chelsea Women. Niamh Charles replaces Ève Périsset because of an injury.
Kaja Korosec (Paris FC Féminines) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Agnes Beever-Jones (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kaja Korosec (Paris FC Féminines).
Goal! Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4. Maren Mjelde (Chelsea Women) header from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Guro Reiten with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Chelsea Women. Conceded by Célina Ould Hocine.
Attempt blocked. Mia Fishel (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Agnes Beever-Jones.
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Louna Ribadeira replaces Mathilde Bourdieu.
2024-01-30 19:49:52
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