TOPS / FLOPS – The superiority of Lauren James, the activity of Cascarino or even Eugénie Le Sommer in difficulty … find the tops and flops of Chelsea’s victory in Lyon (1-0) in the quarter-finals of the League of Female Champions.
TOPS
Lauren James took a walk
Impressive this season, Lauren James was present this evening during Chelsea’s victory in Lyon (1-0). Physically superior to all the players present on the field, she also demonstrated all her technical qualities. Very often came to the aid of her defense by coming back to hinder the Lyonnaises in the low block of Chelsea, she distinguished herself in attack by a disconcerting ease in all her movements. If she was not involved in Reiten’s goal, she could have been decisive on her shot which hit the post a few moments later (33′). A very solid game.
Delphine Cascarino very stirring
His incessant activity to cause concern for the defense of the Blues. Until her exit at the 70th minute of play, she constantly tried by her speed or her dribbling to find space and make the difference. She was the most interesting Lyonnaise tonight and she could have scored the equalizer if her good shot hadn’t been deflected off the post by Chelsea goalkeeper Ann Katrin Berger (60′).
FLOPS
Eugenie Le Sommer did not weigh in
The experienced OL striker (175 caps for the France team) was surely hoping to be decisive in this match. Established at the forefront of the attack, she managed to touch 22 balls but it is rarely found in a dangerous situation. To his credit, the first two Lyon strikes of the game. But there too she can do better, especially on her first chance (9′). Unfortunately for her, she did not know how to take advantage of the English goalkeeper’s hesitation and sent her little dive next to the English goal. A failure that could have given a completely different configuration to this meeting. Released by her coach at half-time, she did not have the expected impact on this match.
An OL defense too easily put in danger
Dominant from the start of the match, we thought that the Lyonnaises would be superior to Chelsea tonight. But the more the match progressed in time, the more the observation was obvious: the Blues were just waiting for the right opportunities to be really dangerous. An obvious fact as the Londoners were able to make the difference on each acceleration when they felt like it. As if that wasn’t enough, they were able to take advantage of errors or loss of Lyon balls to be even more dangerous (28′, 88′). It is in particular the superiority of the English attackers in terms of speed that allowed the Chelsea players to create danger.