Chelsea became the first semifinalists after another win over Wolfsburg and knocked the German side out for the first time in their 4th try. Goals from Pernille Harder, Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby sealed another win and ended Wolfsburg’s Champions League dream. Wolfsburg – Chelsea, 0-3
📋 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📋
Here's how @VfL_Frauen and @ChelseaFCW line-up for the second leg!#UWCL | Quarter-finals
— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) March 31, 2021
1st half
The same as in the first leg, the match took place in Budapest due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Rebecca Blomqvist replaced Lena Oberdorf in Wolfsburg’s starting line up, who was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. The Germans lost the first game after being a much better team in the first half and a lot of wasted chances. Chelsea started with a slight advantage on the field. But Wolfsburg soon caught up and took an initiative. But in the 26th minute, Sara Doorsoun fouled Samantha Kerr on the edge of the box. The referee decided that it happened inside and pointed to the spot. Pernille Harder took the ball and successfully converted for the first goal of the day. Ewa Pajor had the equalizer on her foot a couple of minutes later, but the striker missed from a few meters after a sharp cross from Fridolina Rolfö. Wolfsburg were again made to pay for their missed opportunity. Kerr controlled a ball into the box before turning and firing a low drive past Katarzyna Kiedrzynek and doubled the lead. That meant that Wolfsburg would have to score at least 4 goals to go through and the tie was mostly decided.
So 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥! 🔥 @SamKerr1 👏 pic.twitter.com/lELJDNPSDH
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) April 1, 2021
2nd half
In the second half, Wolfsburg tried to get a quick goal but Chelsea’s defence with Ann-Katrin Berger between the post did a good job with well-timed tackles and blocks to prevent any chances for last year finalists. The German international comfortably saved a curling free-kick from Dominque Janssen from the edge of the box. After a one-two pass with substitute So-Yun Ji, Fran Kirby scored a 3rd goal and confirmed the impressive victory. Chelsea have finally got a revenge after Wolfsburg have ended three of their four previous European campaigns.
Der Traum vom Halbfinale ist geplatzt…#WOBCFC #UWCL #VfLWolfsburg pic.twitter.com/nXB7BKTexN
— VfL Wolfsburg Frauen (@VfL_Frauen) March 31, 2021
Efficiency was definitely in key factor in the Wolfsburg-Chelsea tie. The Germans can regret all their wasted opportunities, especially in the first game. On the other hand, Chelsea converted theirs and will probably face Bayern who won 3-0 in the first leg against Rosengard. Chelsea reached the semifinal for the 3rd time (2017/18, 2018/19) but are yet to play in the final.
Reactions
“From my point of view, we can take two twings away from today: One is definitely that – if we look at both games – we lost this tie 5:1. The second is that we had good chances again today, were visually superior again and again had good moments in the game – similar to the first leg. In principle, we can blame ourselves for failing to score when we needed to. Even after conceding 1:0, there was a chance from Ewa Pajor. If we had scored the 1:1 there, we would have shown a good reaction. But the bottom line is that Chelsea’s effectiveness and cold-bloodedness is the quality that probably made the difference in the end. We made individual mistakes again today, and they were punished with a vengeance. That’s how it is at this level. So we come back to the first thing and you lose a tie like this with 3-0 in the end. And in the end, the results count.” – Stephan Lerch, Wolfsburg head coach
Into the semi’s 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jpyLbpZVUh
— Pernille Harder (@PernilleMHarder) March 31, 2021
“We’ve had to lose eight times to this team in the past, so I know how it feels. To make the progress we’ve made and showing the investment that the club has made in all of us, I think it’s the biggest win in Chelsea history, in my time here. The amount of endless hours my staff have put into recruitment, to all the fine details to get us to this level to make sure that when we are in this position, we can close it out, with the quality of the training, the quality of the personnel, the quality of recruitment, the quality of the analysis. I know that thousands of hours have gone in to getting this win today. I’m extremely proud and grateful.” – Emma Hayes, Chelsea head coach
Score
Wolfsburg – Chelsea 0-3 (0-2) agg. 1-5
Scorers: 27′ Pernille Harder (C) pen, 31′ Sam Kerr (C), 81′ Fran Kirby (C)
Yellow cards: 56′ Fran Kirby (C)
1st leg
Chelsea – Vfl Wolfsburg 2-1 (0-0)
Scorers: 55′ Sam Kerr (C), 66′ Pernille Harder (C), 70′ Dominique Janssen (W) pen
Yellow cards: 16′ Alex Popp (W), 18′ Sara Doorsoun (W), 60′ Niamh Charles (C), 83′ Lena Oberdorf (W), 90+1′ Melanie Leupolz (C)