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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Paris FC (Baltimore 30 pen)
Sandy Baltimore repeats the trick. She scores her second penalty of this Champions League campaign, sliding the ball into the right corner. Chelsea take advantage of VAR.
Penalty to Chelsea!
There is definitely contact as Le Moguédec catches Nüsken’s heel, the pair battling for a ball dinked into the area … and the ref says pen!
29 min: Nüsken goes down in the area after coming into contact with Le Moguédec … and the referee is going to the screen!
27 min: Thompson cuts in from the left wing … she tries to slide the ball into the area … but it’s overdone.
25 min: Beever-Jones remains in the game, trying to get on the end of a Walsh ball into the area, but she’s just out of reach at the far post.
23 min: Bright wins a free-kick, and it’s a central position … Chelsea opt against the shot, with Baltimore dinking it into the area. Up goes the offside flag.
22 min: We’re approaching the end of the first quarter and, for all of Chelsea’s dominance on the ball, they’ve not exactly sliced open this Paris backline.
20 min: Thompson makes a run in behind and plays a first-time cutback from the left … but she can’t pick out Beever-Jones, with Greboval in the way for Paris.
19 min: Chelsea continue to move it around, with Thompson, out on the left, constantly looking to cut in to the middle.
17 min: Chelsea have a corner, to be delivered by Cuthbert … the ball in is eventually worked back to Cuthbert on the left, who finds Beever-Jones in the middle: her first touch is a fine one, but her shot on the turn is met by an excellent block.
15 min: Rytting Kaneryd crosses from the right … but Deja Davis is back to clear for Paris.
14 min: Hampton very nearly ends up handling outside her area after coming to collect, with Mateo launching an ambitious appeal.
12 min: Paris are easily crowded out when they venture up the pitch.
11 min: Beever-Jones, makes an excellent run behind into the area, Walsh slides in the perfect pass … but the former miscues once again.
10 min: Charles Antaki writes in:
Even as an Arsenal fan, it’s hard not to respect and admire Millie Bright’s contribution to the England cause over the years. Fair play to her if she’s decided that she needs to reserve her energies for the WSL (though the other part of being an Arsenal fan is not to be very happy about that). It’s not that England can’t win things without her (checks notes: Euro 25) but that when she plays she has a rock- solid certainty at the back which would make any team better. Vale, Millie.
9 min: Nüsken breaks free on the right, into the area, cutting back for Beever-Jones … but the forward miscues, barely getting any power behind her effort.
8 min: Cuthbert slides a sneaky ball into the area … but there’s no blue shirt on the end of it.
6 min: Sandy Baltimore sends in a couple of crosses before Erin Cuthbert tries her luck from outside the area … her low drive is easily collected by Mylène Chavas.
5 min: Chelsea, as expected, are the ones wheeling the ball around.
4 min: Rytting Kaneryd twists and turns out on the right before dinking a decent cross in … it’s headed out before Nüsken shoots wide from range.
3 min: Walsh loses the ball in the middle as Clara Mateo drives down the right for Paris … Bright blocks the cross and also nabs a goalkick.
1 min: Alyssa Thompson, electric out on the right alongside Ellie Carpenter last week against Twente, is operating on the left this time round.
Peeeeeeeep!
Chelsea are all blue, Paris don the whites. The hosts kick off, with Aggie Beever-Jones launching first.
Ellen White, on punditry duty, predicts a 4-0 Chelsea victory. Sonia Bompastor wants her side to replicate their display against Spurs. Let’s see what they’ve got in the locker: the players emerge from the tunnel.
On the subject of international retirements: Jess Fishlock’s illustrious Wales career will end this month.
Millie Bright remains at the heart of Chelsea’s defence but the England chapter is over.
Having rotated heavily for last week’s match against Twente, Sonia Bompastor has opted for less tinkering this time round: Hannah Hampton is back in net, with just two changes to the side that beat Tottenham 1-0 in the league. Ellie Carpenter is missing from the squad, while Niamh Charles drops to the bench. In come Sjoeke Nüsken and Sandy Baltimore.
The teams
Chelsea: Hampton, Nüsken, Björn, Bright, Baltimore, Kaptein, Walsh, Cuthbert, Rytting Kaneryd, Beever-Jones, Thompson
Subs: Peng, Buurman, Macário, Jean-François, Reiten, Kerr, Charles, Bronze, Hamano, Potter, Sarwie
Paris FC: Chavas, Ould Hocine, Davis, Greboval, Bogaert, Picard, Korosec, Corboz, Garbino, Mateo, Le Moguédec
Subs: Marques, Azzaro, Mendonça, Scott, N’Dongala, Jedlinska, Haheim, Sissoko, Liaigre, Yerro
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another evening of Champions League action: Paris are in London.
Chelsea, still waiting to lift this trophy, got their campaign off to an awkward start last week, relying on a Sandy Baltimore penalty to take a point at Twente. While the WSL champions – who remain unbeaten this season – dominated on the ball and whipped in cross after cross, their final touch was off. Maybe a kickabout at Stamford Bridge, under lights, is the required tonic.
Paris FC, who came through qualifying to reach the league stage, gave up a 2-0 lead against OH Leuven to draw last week, and their brief relationship with Chelsea is not pretty: the English side won 4-0 and 4-1 when the two sides met in the 2023-24 group stage. Then again, Twente didn’t have history on their side either. Kick-off’s at 8pm BST.
