UWCL Round-Up: Part 2
Seven teams progressed on Wednesday and yesterday the remaining places in the Group Stage were booked. Here is the round-up of the fixtures that took place yesterday.
WFC Kharkiv (5) 3-1 (2) Apollon
Elsewhere, Apollon travelled to Ukraine attempting to overturn the 2-1 defeat they suffered in the first leg. However, it was WFC Kharkiv who started the better and they scored two goals in the first 20 minutes, courtesy of Olha Boychenko and Olha Ovdiychuk. In the 62nd minute, the Ukrainian side made it 3-0 on the day with Ovdiychuk scoring her second of the match. Apollon did get a consolation via an own goal, but WFC Kharkiv had done enough securing a 5-2 aggregate victory to move into the group stage.
Slavia Prague (0) 0-4 (7) Arsenal
Arsenal were already 3-0 up heading into the away leg in the Czech Republic. They sealed their passage to the Group Stage with a comfortable 4-0 win to give them a 7-0 aggregate victory. The first goal didn’t arrive until the second half, but when it did there was no surprise who was the scorer. Dutch sensation Vivianne Miedema headed home Beth Mead’s superb cross, and the Arsenal striker had her second of the game ten minutes later when she collected the ball in the box and calmly dispatched the ball past Olivie Lukášová in the Slavia Prague goal. Then only a couple of minutes later Miedema sealed the hat-trick with a cool finish, which means she has now scored 100 goals for Arsenal in just 110 appearances. Kim Little wrapped up the victory, scoring a penalty after Nikita Parris was brought down in the area.
Breidablik (4) 3-0 (1) Osijek
The tie was nicely poised heading into the second leg after a 1-1 draw in Croatia, but Breidablik were in the mood for goals and scored two in two minutes. First, in the ninth minute, Hildur Antonsdóttir latched onto an incredible through ball by Agla María Albertsdóttir and Antonsdottir kept her composure to put her team one up. Only a minute later Breidablik doubled their advantage when the ball fell to American Taylor Ziemer on the edge of the area, and she fired the ball into the net. The win was sealed in the 48th minute, when Agla Maria Albertsdottir scored, as a result, Breidablik are the first team (men or women) from Iceland to reach a major UEFA Club Competition home and away Group Stage.
Benfica (5) 4-0 (1) Twente
After a 1-1 draw in the Netherlands, the tie seemed in the balance, but in Portugal, Benfica took control, and they took the lead just break half-time. Cloé Lacasse’s wonderful left-footed effort from just outside the area found the bottom corner. After the break, the lead was doubled and, on this occasion, Lacasse was the provider and the Canadian’s driving run and cut back found Nycole Raysla in the area and the Brazilian smashed the ball home. Minutes later Lacasse had her second goal of the match after Raysla turned provider with a neat pass that enabled Lacasse to go through on goal and she made no mistake. The forward managed to seal her hat-trick when she slipped the ball under the onrushing keeper and that wrapped up the win to send Benfica through.
Juventus (3) 1-0 (0) Vllaznia
The Italian side were 2-0 up from the first leg and a 1-0 win in Turin ensured they would advance to the Group Stage. Andrea Stašková’s goal in the 34th minute was enough to secure victory on the day and Juventus will enter the Group Stage draw on Monday.
