It wasn’t a pretty win, but that matters little. Emma Hayes was frank enough to describe it as “boring”, but a Guro Reiten penalty and fumbled own goal from Mylène Chavas, the visiting keeper, gave Chelsea a 2-1 win against Real Madrid and confirmed progress to the Champions League quarter-finals at the top of Group D.
Hayes’s team were dominant but they struggled to make it count, forced to wait until the clock had ticked past the hour before taking the lead. Athenea del Castillo’s equaliser heightened tensions relieved just six minutes earlier, but Erin Cuthbert’s shot was almost thrown into the net by Chavas a minute later.
