Chelsea ladies faced Bristol City in the Continental Tyres Cup this afternoon. The away fixture saw them win the game with a 90th minute penalty by Karen Carney.
The Blues were frustrated during the first half as Bristol sat deep and prevented the in-form WSL leaders from scoring. Despite repeated efforts the breakthrough never came, in the end it was all about long range attempts that were repeatedly well defended.
The breakthrough came at the start of second half when Eniola Aluko turned her marker and slid the ball passed the Bristol City keeper.
Emma Hayes had clearly asked for more urgency at half time as the pace of the game was significantly increased. But, despite a ‘knocking on the door`, Chelsea just could not find a second goal.
Two Bristol substitutions as the half wore on saw the impetus move to the West Country side. Becky Spencer in the Chelsea goal was called on to make a couple of crucial saves. The equaliser came after another good save from Spencer, Millie Turner had struck the ball on target as the ball came back to her she was able to turn in the rebound to level the game.
With just 5 minutes plus injury time left, it looked as though the match would go to penalties.The group rounds of this years competition have to have a winner, so spot kicks must decide a stalemate. As it turned out it came down to just one penalty.
A driving run into the Bristol City penalty box saw Karen Carney taken out. Carney herself, stepped up, and sent the keeper the wrong way. The result kept Chelsea`s 100% domestic winning record going.
The Blues only defeat this season being the 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Women`s Champions League. However, despite that defeat Chelsea still progressed to the next round on the away goals rule. Hayes side look forward to facing Rosengard in the home leg of the round of sixteen this Wednesday, hoping to take a good lead with them to Sweden the week after.
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