Manchester City Women Set Up Real Madrid Champions League Tie

Manchester City Women cruised into the Champions League round-robin final with a convincing 6-0 win over Tomiris-Turan in Madrid. A double by Bunny Shaw was added to by Euros winner Lauren Hemp before half-time to put City in complete control. Vicky Losada, Deyna Castellanos and Laura Coombs completed the scoring as City marched into the final.

The blues qualified for the Champions League stages thanks to an impressive winning run that took them above neighbours United into a third-place WSL finish last season and were drawn against the Kazakhstan side, with Real Madrid and Sturm Graz being the other teams in City’s group. The winners of both ties then meet to decide who goes into a 2-legged play-off to compete for a place in the group stages.

In a boost to City’s defence, long-term absentees Esme Morgan and Steph Houghton were named on the bench and the blues unleashed a strong line-up, with Ellie Roebuck, Keira Walsh, Laura Coombs, Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and England’s goal-scoring hero Chloe Kelly all making the starting line-up.

And the blues got to work almost instantly, taking the lead after just four minutes, Lauren Hemp’s cross from the left was met by the head of Shaw, and she made no mistake, guiding the ball past the keeper to send City on their way.

The blues were looking dominant, and a second goal was no more than they deserved. A free-kick on the right was played back to Greenwood, who then released Kelly down the right. Her first-time cross was met powerfully by Shaw, who once again guided the ball home to make it 2-0.

And, right on the stroke of half-time, City drilled home their dominance, but it was their opponents that made the goal. A long ball forward was mis-kicked by the Kazak defence, and the ball floated out towards Kelly on the right. Her first-time pass found Shaw inside the box, and the Jamaican star knocked it on to Hemp on the left, who hammered home the third.

City continued to dominate after the break, with Shaw coming sloe to completing her hat0trick and Hemp hitting the side netting. The blues should have had a hatful in the second half, with Losada coming close to adding a fourth.

And the Spaniard did make it 4-0 with a thumping finish in the 82^nd minute. Coombs cross was met by Losada, who hammered the ball into the back of the goal to make sure of the victory.

In the 89^th minute, some careless defending saw the blues awarded a penalty. Castellanos looked to steal the ball after The Kazak side tried and failed to play the ball out of defence, and a nudge on the City new girl was enough for the referee to point to the spot. The Columbian striker stood up, dusted herself off and confidently dispatched the penalty to make it 5-0.

There was still time for a sixth goal as the opposition defence went AWOL as Coombs found acres of space down the right. Her cross into the box being turned into the goal by the goalkeeper, as City ran away with the match. It was no more than the blues deserved as they dominated the match from start to finish.

City now face Real, who knocked the blues out of qualifying last season, on Sunday, with the winners facing a two-legged tie for a place in the group stage.

Final Score: Manchester City 6-0 Tomiris-Turan