With half of their group stage fixtures now played, Manchester City sit three points clear at the top of their UEFA Women’s Champions League group after battling to claim a 2-0 win over Hammarby IF.
The Cityzens failed to make their domination of the ball count in the first half, trudging down the tunnel with the scores still level despite recording a staggering 70% possession throughout the opening exchanges. Gareth Taylor’s side forced the better chances, too, ensuring Anna Tamminen remained occupied in the Bajen goal to rectify any mistakes made by a back line that seemingly loved to invite pressure a little too much. There was nervy moment for her opposite number too, with Julie Blakstad fumbling a clear-cut chance to score against her former side from six yards out.
Manchester City’s pressure would tell in the opening minutes of the second half, though. A well-placed cross from Mary Fowler allowed Laura Blindkilde Brown to slot home from close range, and while Hammarby looked set for a long evening as the Cityzens quickly threatened to extend that lead, Martin Sjögren’s side held out and came close to forcing an equaliser in the dying stages. It wasn’t to be though, with Aoba Fujino instead doubling the hosts’ advantage inside the final ten minutes.
The two sides will meet again next week at Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena.
As it happened
Martin Sjögren’s Hammarby side found themselves under immense pressure from the very start of this enthralling UEFA Women’s Champions League clash at Joie Stadium, with Mary Fowler wasting no time in indicating that she’d be the player to watch on the right flank throughout the opening exchanges. Her delivery after linking up well with Yui Hasegawa was merely the first of many that Anna Tamminen would be forced to deal with throughout the evening, and it was just minutes before the Cityzens came agonisingly close to clinching the opener as Khadija Shaw nodded across the face of goal after another teasing cross.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut City’s attacking impetus soon waned out, with the hosts seemingly content to control possession and wait for the Bajen defence to punish themselves. That plan was tantalisingly close to fruition on numerous occasions throughout, with the first real indicator of Hammarby’s defensive fragility coming in the 18th minute as Eva Nyström’s loose pass for her defensive partner almost gifted Shaw an opportunity to hammer home a fortuitous opener.
They’d soon be manufacturing chances again, with Aoba Fujino placing an effort over the crossbar before Tamminen was called upon once more to deny Fowler’s attempt to forge a goalscoring opportunity from the scraps of Leila Ouahabi’s cross that sailed inches in front of Shaw. The Jamaican would become well acquainted with the Hammarby shotstopper as the match wore on, tangling with Tamminen shortly after the half-hour mark in a battle for yet another Fowler delivery – and while there was cause for concern as the forward limped off, she soon quelled the nerves as she hobbled back into the hosts’ front line.
Hammarby were far from dead and buried though; they were still level, in fact. Ellen Wangerheim’s perfectly timed run on the right flank allowed her to remain onside, delivering in a late cross as the half-time interval grew nearer that was incredulously fumbled inside the box by ex-Manchester City star, Julie Blakstad. Asato Miyagawa wasn’t any luckier, blazing over the crossbar from close range as she attempted to seize a smash-and-grab lead to further buoy the vocal Bajen supporters.
Manchester City emerged from the break as a side rejuvenated, with Fujino taking mere seconds to fashion the first chance of the half for Gareth Taylor’s side as she struck the woodwork. While the Japanese winger had been denied on that occasion, City fans were soon able to rejoice as Laura Blindkilde Brown tucked home the opener in the 47th minute, turning another Fowler cross past Tamminen to give the hosts a tangible lead and a reward for their first-half dominance.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity’s desperation to double their lead was evident, and they wasted no time in flocking bodies forwards in search of a goal that would all but confirm yet another three points in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Fujino was once again denied by the woodwork before Shaw clipped an effort wide of the target; the Jamaican would later steer the ball into the back of the net, only for the goal to be denied after she was judged to have mistimed her run onto Fowler’s probing pass.
Hammarby fought back valiantly, with Emilie Joramo’s cross from the left flank falling wonderfully for Cathinka Tandberg – who boasts an impressive record in front of goal. She wasn’t able to add to her tally though, directing a headed effort into the grateful receiving arms of Ayaka Yamashita as the clock ticked into the final twenty minutes at Joie Stadium. It seemed that Sjögren’s side – or his attackers, at the very least – had set their alarms a little too late. Thea Sørbo’s thunderous effort from a corner forced Yamashita into another save, this one much more impressive than the routine stop she had conjured up just moments before.
But just as City looked to fizz out, they added to their slender lead and dashed any hopes of a late Hammarby comeback. With her last contribution of the game before being withdrawn for Chloe Kelly, Fujino steered an effort past Tamminen, diving to connect with Leila Ouahabi’s low cross from the left. There looked to be time for one final twist as Smilla Vallotto arrived off the bench to take up a great position centrally – she could barely believe her luck when she dragged wide of the post under little pressure.
Manchester City remain at the top of their UEFA Women’s Champions League group with half of their games played, but Hammarby will feel capable of springing an upset when the sides meet again at the Tele2 Area next week, with more than 15,000 tickets already sold for the clash.
The lineups
MCI: Yamashita; Ouahabi, Greenwood, Kennedy, Casparij; Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Park; Fowler, Shaw, Fujino
HAM: Tamminen; J. Andersson, Nyström, Carlsson, Lennartsson; Miyagawa, Joramo; Blakstad, Hasund, Wangerheim; Tandberg