ERIN CUTHBERT KEPT Chelsea’s hopes of a first-ever Champions League final alive with a superb second half volley on Sunday as Lyon narrowly beat the Blues 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final.
Cuthbert rocketed home a long-distance volley 18 minutes from the end in a stirring second-half display that will give Emma Hayes’ side hope of seeing off the French side in England next weekend.
Lyon, who are five-times winner of the competition and in the hunt for their fourth straight title, looked set to cruise through at half-time thanks to Magdalena Ericsson’s own goal and a glancing finish from Amandine Henry.
Chelsea squeezed past Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 thanks to a last gasp winner from Maren Mjelde in the previous round, and will be more confident of knocking out the dominant force in women’s football after taking the game to Lyon in the second period.
However they could rue Fran Kirkby missing a soft-looking penalty on the stroke of half-time, and giving away two sloppy goals in the first half that could yet see them knocked out.
Lyon were gifted their opener in the 27th minute when Blues centre-back Ericsson turned Delphine Cascarino’s cross past her own goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Chelsea were sloppy again for Lyon’s second, giving away an unnecessary corner and then watching the ball sail past everyone via the slightest of touches from Henry.
The London side dusted themselves off after the break and got their deserved goal thanks to Cuthbert, who perfectly met Bethany England’s knock with a left-footed strike that crashed past Sarah Bouhaddi in the Lyon goal.
Hamraoui puts Barcelona within reach of final
Barcelona have one foot in the final of the Women’s Champions League after Kheira Hamraoui’s second half winner gave them a deserved 1-0 win at Bayern Munich in Sunday’s semi-final first leg.
Hamraoui, who won the tournament with Lyon last season, showed her class with a well-taken winner to give Barcelona a deserved lead and a one-goal advantage ahead of the second leg next week.
With both sides looking to make their first ever appearance in the final, the game proved to be a cagey affair for long periods.
Bayern had their backs to the wall for much of the first half, as Barcelona dominated possession.
Clear cut chances remained few and far between for the visitors, although they twice struck the woodwork with speculative efforts from both Vicky Losada and Hamraoui.
Bayern rallied shortly before half-time, with chances falling to Sara Daebritz and Fridolina Rolfoe.
The hosts continued to be pushed back after the break, however, and Barcelona finally unlocked the defence just after the hour mark.
A slick move on the right wing saw Mariona Caldentey set up Hamraoui, who found the far corner with a sharp finish.
Daebritz came close to equalising for Bayern on 73 minutes, slaloming through the box before forcing a reflex save from Barcelona keeper Sandra Panos.
The Bayern striker then hit the bar with a late free-kick, but Barcelona held on to secure the win.
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Cannot wait for this.
watching this in Tenerife on Sunday can’t wait COYBIB
Cian o Sullivan won’t start Sunday.
Looking forward to it, should be a great game
Great looking bench !!! …would be nice if full team plus subs could parade ….it’s a 15 plus subs game nowadays
Come on the DUBS!
Still 31 against 1. That’s cool! We Dubs are invincible!
Hope the traffic wasn’t too bad for you heading home for the weekend!
Please park responsibly when you come to Dublin for the All-Ireland! You ain’t at home, we’ll clamp your a$$!
Come on you Boys in Blue
johnny cooper to be booked within first 20 mins then taken off in second half to avoid being sent off
Think Michael Fitzsimons is unlucky not to start, he may not be the most naturally gifted player, but he is the one Dub that can keep Gooch out of the game with his exceptional marking ability.
Not deserving of an all Ireland win..Kerry to show their greatness
Why are they not deserving of an All Ireland win?
How they disgraced themselves against Mayo
If you remember both teams disgraced themselves in the drawn game ! In the replay the game was played in the spirit of the sport and the dubs came out on top ! Jealous and petty dub bashers
One of the top 2 teams in the country. Anyone that tries to say they’re not deserving of an All Ireland based on one game where BOTH teams were far from behaving like choir boys is talking waffle. As for the original comment, you’re from Tralee, that answers my question.
Brian are you deserving of your mot
I cant wait till sunday.hopefully quieten these fellas for a decade. #sammightaswellhavestayedathome #hopehegotareturnticket
Winning on Sunday will quieten us for a decade? Haha ok then! Oh and save the hashtags for Twitter.
#we’llsee #superiormidfield #superiorforwards #whatstheoddsofconnollylastingthegame #mustbesomethinginthewater #surewe’lltakethemarkhamcupalso
You uninteresting bore.
Never met an interesting one to be honest.
Well Bernard! Hope you got to put your feet up on the empty seat booked for Sam’s return trip home?? I think those ‘superior forwards’ of yours must have left their kicking boots at home! Brian, what happened to this greatness Kerry we’re going to show us?!?!
Kerry for your holliers Dublin for the Sam! Wan the Dubs!!!!!!!
Two players from the South side, yeah lets split the county in two.
3 actually
3 actually, o carroll, o Sullivan and Bastick.
Thumbs up there Eamo
Macauley , McManamon,Byrne .Ó Conghaile and Fitzsimons as well
3 from south side clubs which is how it would be divided I presume.
Kind of goes to show what a stupid idea it would be.
And one from Meath
We’ve actually annexed Meath so your comment is null and void.
We’d love an all-Ireland….all Ireland would hate that…..C.O.Y.B.I.B.
We’ll be marching down from Ringsend,
And from Ballyfermot too.
From Eastwall and Marino,
To support the boys in Blue.
For 2 long years we’ve waited
and there’s nothing left to prove
So lets here it now from Dublin
Gavin’s army’s on the loose.
The Jacks are back!
Not much of a march from eastwall to Marino.
Will be interesting to see if O’Sullivan starts. If he’s not fully fit don’t start him, not worth using a sub earlier than planned because he’s not fully fit. Fingers crossed he’s ready and able!
He is starting Aideen
No, he’s named to start. Whether he starts on the day is a whole other story. Team sheets can change on the day.
Aideen the only way you can start an individual in the GAA with questions over fitness is from the start. There is no other way. If he has to be subbed so be it, but if you don’t start him, bring him on as a sub and he has to come off again, your down another sub.
Fair point! I should have worded that ‘if he’s not fit don’t play him’.
That depends on the nature of the injury to be fair, it’s a blow if he’s skinned and gone after 10 mins but if he has an hour of football in him it’s worth a shot.
But there’s no way of knowing if he has an hour of football in him till you put him out there and hope. I can’t imagine he’s been able to prove himself by running rings around everyone in training, it’s only been 12 days – it’s all about deciding whether it’s worth the risk I suppose!
Two superb teams.losing Marc and Paul murphy massive body blows for us but IN FITZ WE TRUST.. CIARRAI ABU
IMO McAuley should be starting
both defences to be in bother! kerrys better forwards to shade it In my view
It will be a game of bench warfare very tight to call. whoever gets the most impact from the bench will win hope its the dubs . . . COYBIB
Kerry hoping to give Dublin a game.
Unusual to hear Kerry given a hope, ye must be rattled!
Do the business, Dean Rock
Michael dara is goin to start for certain
I wouldn’t be so sure. Bastick is better at playing the holding role and generally a bit better defensively than Michael dara. McCauley could be the winning of it if it’s still tight in the last 20 mins if he comes on fresh. At his best he’s a nightmare to play against and would give Dublin a huge lift and Kerry won’t love seeing him come on fresh if the game is still in the melting pot
Come on the dubs!!!!!!!!!
Yerra, hopefully we’ll keep it close in the first half, and shur we’d be delighted to come within ten points.
gavin has never started the 15 he picked on friday he’s fooling nobody
Osullivan done his hammer less than two weeks ago he can’t possibly play on it , he’s gonna make it worse and miss the club championship doubt hel be risked but if so start him and see how long he lasts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VTn2PCxn8&sns=em
Michael Donnellan of Galway would walk onto that team