Substitute Vivianne Miedema scored a brace as Manchester City inflicted Chelsea’s first defeat of the season by beating them 2-0 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Joie Stadium.
Miedema, having come off the bench for the start of the second half, put City in front on the hour mark, rifling in the rebound when Hannah Hampton tipped Laia Aleixandri’s header against the crossbar.
And after Chelsea substitute Johanna Rytting Kaneryd had struck the bar at the other end in the 80th minute, Miedema added her second with two minutes of normal time remaining to give City a two-goal advantage heading into next Thursday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Vivianne. Miedema. pic.twitter.com/VLTxv23YXR
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) March 19, 2025
That match will complete a series of four successive meetings between the sides, which started with Chelsea’s 2-1 triumph on Saturday in the League Cup final at Pride Park that gave them their first trophy under boss Sonia Bompastor.
They have now suffered a maiden loss of the Frenchwoman’s tenure, ending an unbeaten run of 28 games since she took charge last summer – of which 26 were wins – and 31 matches in total.
City, meanwhile, have a first win of Nick Cushing’s interim tenure after he replaced Gareth Taylor ahead of the quartet of fixtures, which continues with Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
With Khadija Shaw and Aoba Fujino dropping out having come off with injuries in Saturday’s contest, Kerolin and 19-year-old Lily Murphy came into City’s starting attack, while Cushing also opted to replace Miedema with Jess Park.
Bompastor made two changes which included former City midfielder Keira Walsh returning to Chelsea’s line-up after three games out.
Cushing had spoken about Saturday’s result serving as “fuel” for his team, and City started brightly as Kerolin shot over and Jill Roord’s strike was gathered by Hampton.
Chelsea registered an attempt with Nathalie Bjorn’s header being saved by Ayaka Yamashita before Hampton was called upon again twice in quick succession just prior to the half-hour, dealing with efforts from Murphy and Mary Fowler.
A Chelsea burst forward soon after ended with Catarina Macario heading over from Lauren James’ cross, and the opening stages of the second half saw efforts from James and Roord saved.
City then broke the deadlock when Aleixandri sent a header goalwards from Fowler’s delivery, Hampton did well to divert it against the woodwork and Miedema, who had replaced Murphy at the break, was on hand to crack the loose ball home from close range.
After Miedema saw a further shot parried by Hampton, Chelsea had the ball in the net in the 71st minute as Mayra Ramirez slotted in, but the flag went up for offside.
The visitors continued to push for a leveller and Rytting Kaneryd’s shot came back off the bar and fellow substitute Weike Kaptein saw an effort parried by Yamashita, before Miedema struck again as stoppage time drew near, slotting into the corner having been fed by Kerolin.
David Moyes believes James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid a red card for his reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister as Everton were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal, which Moyes claimed should have been ruled out for offside, gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were...
Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...
David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...
Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Marcus Rashford is “progressively getting better” in all aspects of his game following his first Premier League goal for the club.The on-loan Manchester United forward set Villa on course for a comprehensive 3-0 win over fellow European hopefuls Brighton with a 51st-minute finish at the Amex Stadium.Rashford’s milestone strike came three days ...
Southampton boss Ivan Juric vowed to keep fighting as relegation moved sharply into focus after Crystal Palace denied them only a third Premier League win of the season.Substitute Matheus Franca’s stoppage-time header, to secure a 1-1 draw for the Eagles, means Saints will be down at the weekend if they lose at Tottenham and Wolves beat Ipswich.If relegation is confirmed on Sunday, Southampt...
Derby boss John Eustace insists his side are reaping the rewards for the hard work they have put in since he was appointed as manager after the Rams earned a 2-0 win over Preston to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.Derby came out firing after a lacklustre opening period and Craig Forsyth coolly slotted the hosts in front with his fourth goal of the season.The Rams doubled thei...
Notts County manager Stuart Maynard hailed a “massive” three points as his side comfortably saw off MK Dons at Meadow Lane to maintain their promotion challenge.Two stunning strikes from David McGoldrick and Will Jarvis from the edge of the box, either side of Nick Tsaroulla’s close-range effort, earned County a convincing 3-0 win.“I think every three points is massive now,...
Kieran McKenna was not getting too giddy dreaming of a miracle escape from relegation after Ipswich beat Bournemouth 2-1 to pick up their first Premier League win of 2025.Goals from Nathan Broadhead and top-scorer Liam Delap did the damage as Ipswich put a further dent in Bournemouth’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.McKenna, whose side are still nine points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves who t...
Liverpool re-established their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League with Diogo Jota’s strike against Everton settling a second controversial Merseyside derby of the season.Jota’s first league goal since mid-January was potentially one of his most important of the campaign as the 1-0 victory kept second-placed Arsenal at more than arm’s length.It also ended Everton manag...
- 1 Hot WAG flaunts 'astonishing' washboard abs in bikini
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 7 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 8 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 9 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis
- 10 Chelsea prepare €70m for Barcelona defender