Andrée Jeglertz, the Manchester City head coach, said the noise surrounding the guilty verdict dished out by the Premier League had zero impact on his women’s team’s performance after they played out a high-quality draw with Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League.
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s ruthless finish earned City a point against an impressive Real Madrid side on a night when the hosts were surely glad for attentions to turn – however briefly – towards on-pitch matters after a week when the wider football club has dominated the headlines for the wrong reasons.
“Of course there is a lot of noise but the players are very calm – I haven’t seen or noticed anything that will take any percentage out of the players’ performance,” Jeglertz said.
The result – which was a fair reflection of an even but entertaining game – left both sides with two points from their opening two fixtures but City will know their league phase opponents should theoretically become less challenging from hereon after their opening draw at Bayern Munich. The Swedish coach added: “It is OK, it’s an OK start in the Champions League. It’s not ideal but it’s a good start and we know what is needed from us in the rest of the tournament.”
The day after Paris FC played their first Women’s Champions League home game at Stade Jean-Bouin, across the road from Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes, PSG’s women’s team entertained Leuven 20km away at the club’s suburban training centre.
Rasheedat Ajibade put the hosts ahead from close range after nine minutes against the Belgian side. Naomie Feller (pictured) then scored a quick-fire double, before Sakina Karchaoui and Vitória Yaya completed PSG's 5-0 rout.
In the early games, Modesta Uka scored Austria Vienna’s first goal in the WCL but Inter's captain, Ivana Andrés, levelled in the fourth minute of added time to earn a 1-1 draw. Inter dropping points left Barcelona, who thrashed Roma on Wednesday, as the only WCL team with six points after two games.
In a match between two teams that had lost in the opening round, HB Køge crushed visiting Swiss team Servette 5-1 in Denmark. PA
Jeglertz had been at pains to insist that it has been “business as usual” for his team despite the damning guilty verdict released by the Premier League towards the men’s side. There was a strange mood around this stadium in the buildup to kick-off with opinions mixed.
Speaking to supporters on the bridge that connects this venue with the neighbouring Etihad Stadium, some appeared relaxed about the situation and unsure what it had to do with the women’s team, while others were clearly troubled and looking forward to watching some football as a form of escapism.
An elderly City fan, who did not wish to be named, said pre-match: “We’ve been through rough times before, we’ll come through rough times again,” in a matter-of-fact manner. Another simply demonstrated what appears to be a growing dislike for reporters asking about the 115 charges when they said angrily “you’re from the media?” before using an expletive and promptly walking away.
A much politer, younger woman simply expressed her sadness and her hopes that it wouldn’t cause the players stress.
Once the match started, there were occasional references to the news from the stands; midway through the first half one home fan sang ‘Sheikh Mansour, my lord, Sheikh Mansour, oh lord, Sheikh Mansour’, to the tune of Kumbaya, although nobody else appeared to join in. There was also a small group of men carrying an inflatable banana in one corner defiantly chanting about ‘City going down with a billion in the bank’.
In general, though, the regular Women’s Super League match-going fans who are members of the supporters club seemed focused on their usual repertoire of fan chants to encourage the players, whether singing about the brilliance of Aoba Fujino and later chanting the name of Mary Fowler, who hit the crossbar with a header before the break.
By then Real Madrid were already ahead courtesy of Linda Caicedo’s clinical, low finish into the bottom corner after a lethal burst of pace. The visitors could have scored as early as the first minute, when a sloppy mistake by Carlotta Wamser allowed Felicia Schröder to shoot but her effort flew narrowly wide and bounced off the stanchion, rippling the net but from the wrong side. It was a sign of the Spanish team’s intent and they looked sharp throughout.
City’s play was significantly more urgent and incisive after the break and – after Yui Hasegawa spurned a volleyed chance when she was in space inside the box – it did not take long for the hosts to equalise. Shaw turned and clinically fired into the corner of the net with great technique after good pressing from City led to Hasegawa winning the ball in midfield and feeding Shaw in the area. It was the Jamaica striker’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions and her first of this Champions League campaign.
Suddenly the WSL champions were dominating the territory, although Caicedo did go close at the other end with a diagonal shot that bounced wide. The introductions of Beth Mead, Sam Coffey and Grace Clinton from City’s bench only seemed to further strengthen the hosts.
Hasegawa volleyed just wide again, this time from the second phase after a half-clear corner, in another let-off for Real Madrid, who had gone close themselves at the other end when Ayaka Yamashita did well to save from Caicedo. The home fans were on their feet to applaud Yamashita and chant her name when she later produced a quick reaction save to keep out Irune Dorado’s close-range effort and keep the score level.
