ARSENAL, CELTIC and Manchester City recorded handsome home wins in the second leg of round two qualifying of the Women’s Champions League on Thursday to book their places in the draw for the group stage.
Arsenal welcomed Hacken to Borehamwood trailing 1-0 after suffering a defeat on the road to the Swedes last Wednesday.
But strikes by Lia Waelti and new signing Mariona Caldentey inside 40 minutes gave Jonas Eidevall’s side the lead before the break.
Beth Mead and Frida Maanum then put the tie beyond Hacken’s reach as Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners.
Ireland international Katie McCabe started and registered an assist for the third goal.
Manchester City went into their home leg with a comfortable 5-0 advantage after a dominant first-leg display in Paris last week.
A goal after two minutes by England striker Chloe Kelly effectively ended any hopes of an unlikely Paris FC comeback, before Khadija Shaw scored just after the half-hour and hour marks to seal a 3-0 win.
17-year-old Irish midfielder Eve O’Carroll made the bench for the hosts.
Real Madrid won 3-1 at home to Sporting Lisbon, with a brace either side of half-time by Sandie Toletti and a goal in second-half stoppage time from Alba Redondo easing the Spaniards to a three-goal winning margin over both legs.
Last season’s semi-finalists Paris Saint-Germain failed to overturn their first-leg deficit against Juventus as they lost 2-1 at home to the Italians on the night, and 5-2 on aggregate.
Roma emerged 10-3 aggregate winners as they overpowered Swiss side Servette Chenois 7-2 in the return fixture in Geneva.
Dutch club Twente romped into the group stage, scoring four goals in both ties against Croatia’s Osijek on their way to an aggregate win of 8-1.
St Polten of Austria won 5-0 in Slovenia against Mura to complete an impressive 8-0 aggregate win.
Celtic won 2-0 against visitors Vorskla of Ukraine to go through 3-0 on aggregate.
Caitlin Hayes played the full game while fellow Irish international Saoirse Noonan made an 85th-minute appearance off the bench.
On Wednesday, two-time champions Wolfsburg, Norwegians Valerenga, Sweden’s Hammarby and Galatasaray sealed their places in the tournament proper.
Lyon, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and holders Barcelona all automatically qualified for the group stage of the Women’s Champions League.
Now that all 16 group-stage spots have been decided, the draw will take place in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
