Chelsea survived an early scare at Celtic Park, scraping a 2-1 victory to solidify their place at the top of their group in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

A lacklustre start under the lights of Celtic Park saw Chelsea concede in the early stages of the game, before the Blues bounced-back thanks to first half goals from Maika Hamano and Ashleigh Lawrence.

The victory puts Chelsea in a comfortable position as they now turn their attention towards a home meeting with Celtic next week at Stamford Bridge.

How the game unfolded

Chelsea started the game on the front foot, with Wieke Kaptein testing Celtic goalkeeper Kelsey Daugherty with a shot from range inside of the 6th minute. The tempo continued to be controlled by the Blues, as Sandy Baltimore created several positive opportunities from her place in right-back.

Blues head coach Sonia Bompastor made eight changes to the winning lineup that defeated Liverpool in the Women’s Super League (WSL) on the weekend, something that definitely had a negative impact on the team chemistry at Celtic Park. The wholesale changes made Chelsea look disjointed across the field, something the Scottish side capitalised on in the early stages.

The deadlock was broken in the 21st minute, as a visionary pass from Amy Gallacher rattled the Chelsea defence and sent Murphy Agnew in for a one-on-one encounter with Zecira Musovic. The Celtic striker made no mistake, slotting home her shot and turning the home side into the unlikely leaders at home.

Rapture was short lived for the Scottish fans, as Chelsea did what they do best and bounced-back immediately. Ashleigh Lawrence sent Beever-Jones on her way, before the English forward made her way around Bruna Costa and sent a low cross into the path of Hamano. The shot was by no means powerful, but managed to do the job as Daugherty failed to get a strong hand on her save.

Chelsea managed to grab the advantage just five minutes later, as Baltimore’s low cross was met by a scuffle inside of the area before Lawrence pounced on the rebound and buried her shot into the back of the net.

Erin Cuthbert threatened to give Glasgow a warm welcome back before the stroke of half time, as she fired Nathalie Bjorn’s directed header just over the crossbar.

The second half was much of the same from Chelsea, as the Blues dominated 72% of the fixture’s possession but failed to capitalise on their chances.

Catarina Macario was eager to make an impact off the bench, out-muscling Shannon McGregor before forcing a solid save from Daugherty. The USWNT striker had a similar chance later in the game, this denied by a leaping save from the Celtic keeper who managed to tip the chance over the bar.

The Blues saw red in the 95th minute, as Beever-Jones made a silly challenge in the dying minutes that led to her receiving a second yellow card and being sent-off the pitch. The challenge wasn’t grievous, but an unnecessary intervention in her own half given she was already on a yellow.

The fixture concluded 1-2 under the lights of Celtic Park – a scoreline that many anticipated to be much wider. Chelsea had 26 shots across the 90 minutes, seeming to really lack their clinical edge. Praise must be given to the Celtic keeper, as Daugherty pulled off some great saves to preserve the tight margin.

GK: Zecira Musovic – 7/10 – A shaky opening half for Musovic after some nervous fumbles may have been better capitalised on by a more threatening frontline. Didn’t have much to do in the second half as Celtic’s only two meaningful shots on target came in the opening term.

CB: Maelys Mpome – 6/10 – The Chelsea centre-backs were perhaps the worst performers on the park. Mpome seemed slightly lost, something that will be aided with more game time in the future.

CB: Nathalie Bjorn – 6/10 – Bjorn really looked like a player without consistent minutes, appearing far more disjointed and hurried than her usual self. Bjorn and Mpome felt the effects of a lack of game time together, leaving many holes open for Celic to exploit. Also lacked her usual creativity on the ball.

CB: Eve Perisset – 6/10 – Usually a very consistent performer, Perisset seemed far from her usual self. The more central role may have inhibited her best strengths, and that was evident from the performance.

RM: Sandy Baltimore – 8/10 – Seemed to be the main catalyst for Chelsea’s attacking motions in the opening half. This role was far more natural to Baltimore, and that really payed off. Did well to drop back and do the defensive work also.

CM: Erin Cuthbert (c) – 7/10 – There were many moments when Cuthbert fired her strike off-target, when it may have been more beneficial to pass it off. Otherwise a very composed and solid showing from the Scottish midfielder.

CM: Oriane Jean-Francois – 7/10 – The 23-year-old midfielder had some bright moments in the centre of the park, certainly making a bid to Bompastor to earn more WSL minutes.

LM: Ashleigh Lawrence – 7/10 – Scoring the equaliser reflected the signs of an experienced player, as Lawrence capitalised on a chance that the other players seemed to fail at. Impressive down the width and benefited from the attacking freedom.

AM: Wieke Kaptein – 9/10 – Some really bright moments that should have Chelsea fans very excited about the future of this player. The maturity she showed in the centre of the park made it hard to believe that she is a19-year-old playing Champions League football.

ST: Aggie Beever-Jones – 6/10 – The English forward had an impressive opening half, assisting the opening goal with her signature footwork. Her second half display wasn’t as loud, and points have been docked because of the silly challenge that saw her sent-off in the final minutes.

ST: Maika Hamano – 8/10 – Opening the scoring at Celtic Park, Hamano has found herself in really impressive form as of late. The young attacker made her presence known against the Scottish side and Chelsea’s youth talent continues to shine.

Substitutes

SUB: Guro Reiten (46′ for Cuthbert) – 7/10 – Subbed on at half-time to make a difference considering the form she has recently been in. Reiten really caused issues for Celtic, injecting a much needed attacking boost for the Blues.

SUB: Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (46′ for Lawrence) – 7/10 – Another positive showing off the bench for Chelsea. Rytting Kaneryd generated some positive attacking moments, but did failed to capitalise on her chances. Made no real mistakes and did seem to restore some attacking confidence in the side.

SUB: Lucy Bronze (46′ for Baltimore) – 7/10 – Didn’t have a lot of defensive work to do as Celtic failed to threaten Chelsea in the second half. Benefited from the more attacking role and made no costly errors.

SUB: Catarina Macario (58′ for Hamano) – 8/10 – Macario was Chelsea’s brightest attacker in the second half, making immediate impact off the bench. The USWNT striker was denied by some excellent goalkeeping from Daugherty despite taking some good-looking shots.

Unused subs: Hannah Hampton, Katie Cox, Julia Bartel

Manager

Sonia Bompastor – 6/10 – It did seem that Chelsea were a bit too confident heading into this game, and eight changes to the starting lineup certainly seemed to be a few too many for the team. The decision to start Bjorn and Mpome without much preperation cost the Blues early, but the half time substitutes were well made.

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