Man City Women’s Champions League Hopes In The Balance

Manchester City Women’s hopes of reaching the quarter final of the Champions League are in the balance after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid. Janine Beckie had given the blues the lead in the 13^th minute, but conceded a late equaliser to leave the tie on a knife edge.

Last season, the visitors beat the blues 2-0 in this fixture and they again took the game to City in the fourth minute, only to be denied by some excellent work by Ellie Roebuck. The young keeper made a double save, the first at full stretch, then tipping Elena Linari’s shot onto the bar, before Toni Duggan, making her first appearance at City since her move to Barcelona in 2017, hit the rebound over the bar.

The blues, and Beckie, then made the visitors pay for those early misses. Canadian forward Beckie took Keira Walsh’s through ball in her stride and calmly slotted home on 13 minutes.

The second half produced few chances for the blues, the best coming when Beckie hit her shot straight at the keeper as Atletico went in search of an equaliser.

1-0 is always a risky score in a European tie and with ten minutes remaining, City found out just how costly those misses would be. Da Silva beat Demi Stokes on the byeline and her cut back was met by an unmarked Charlyn Corral, who slotted home the equaliser.

The blues must now go to Madrid on 30^th October and score at least once to stand a chance of going through, or face being eliminated by the same opposition for a second year in succession. But a solitary goal, combined with a clean sheet, will be enough to see the blues through.