Women’s Champions League and Super League: weekend talking points

Slegers wins tactical duel with Montemurro

There was jubilation at the final whistle and Renée Slegers joined the celebrations with her players. The Arsenal manager had just guided her team to a Champions League final at the first attempt, defeating her former mentor Joe Montemurro in the process. The 36-year-old outmanoeuvred and outsmarted the Lyon manager as they stormed back from a first-leg deficit to win 4-1 and secure a spot in their first European final in 18 years. It exemplified Slegers’ ability to learn quickly both in-game, and from match to match, while keeping her feet and those of her players firmly on the ground. “We talked about the Arsenal way – what it looks like and why it’s important for us,” she said. “We really look forward to the final, but also straight away when there’s euphoria on the pitch … We are so happy and we need to celebrate these special moments, but we are also very humble and we need to get ready for the next one.” Sophie Downey

Advertisement

Related: WSL: Hemp and Greenwood returns lift Manchester City, Crystal Palace go down

Bompastor admits Chelsea have lost ground

A year ago, a Chelsea team with 10 players were narrowly knocked out by Barcelona 2-1 on aggregate. This time the two teams looked miles apart with two 4-1 wins for the Spanish side. Asked if her side had fallen further behind the holders, the Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said: “I think that’s a fair reflection, if you analyse the result, for sure.” The Frenchwoman felt her team had started the game well but were not clinical enough, adding: “Everybody is really sad, first of all, and also frustrated by the result, but also by the performance. The first 30 minutes in the game were good. The biggest difference between Barcelona and us, we created some opportunities, we were not clinical. When they scored their first goal, [it was] too easy for them. Especially when you leave [Aitana] Bonmatí as this space for her to go and score. After the first goal, mentally, we just weren’t good enough to cope with the situation.” Tom Garry

Martinez pressures Shaw for Golden Boot

The West Ham forward Shekiera Martinez climbed 18 places in the WSL Golden Boot race after scoring four goals against Crystal Palace. She began with a close-range header from Verena Hanshaw’s cross before a composed strike into the top-left corner from around 15 yards. Then she calmly went around Shae Yanez three minutes later to slot in for her hat-trick. In the second half the 23-year-old went one step further, placing the ball into the bottom-right corner for No 4. West Ham won 7-1 against Palace, their biggest WSL victory and a result that relegated the hosts. Martinez is fourth in the WSL Golden Boot rankings with nine goals – just three behind the leader Khadija Shaw. With just two games remaining, could she be making a late push for the prize? “It always feels good to score and if I score four, it feels much better,” the striker said. “I’m really happy about the first half and also for scoring the three goals. I think it was a long time ago since I last scored a hat-trick.” Emillia Hawkins

More Merseyside joy for Parris

Nikita Parris was the hero as Brighton came from behind to win 3-2 against Everton in an enthralling match. The Seagulls levelled twice to make it 2-2 in the first half, and it looked like the points would be shared until Parris struck in the dying moments. It should perhaps not have come as a surprise. Parris is partial to finding the net against Merseyside opposition: she’s now scored nine goals against Liverpool and Everton. The former Toffee was also influential for the second goal, playing a pass into the path of Fran Kirby for the equaliser. The win is Brighton’s first league double over Everton as Dario Vidosic’s side ended their three-game losing streak. “It was nice to win for all the fans who travelled, I heard one saying they were up at 5am this morning,” Vidosic said. Renuka Odedra

City stay in battle for Champions League

Manchester City edged past Leicester 1-0, keeping their hopes for European football alive. They are four points behind third-placed Manchester United, who have three games remaining – one more than City. The two meet on Sunday, giving City an opportunity to close the gap. United would ensure City can’t catch them if they beat Chelsea on Wednesday, but that is a big if. “It’s a massive game,” said the Manchester City manager, Nick Cushing. “It’ll be tough [to qualify for Europe], but we can make it possible by winning games. I was disappointed we didn’t get the three points against Everton, but it is what it is. We have to prepare for a difficult Manchester United game next week.” RO

Spurs to focus on defending set-pieces

Robert Vilahamn said Tottenham must improve their defending of set-pieces after dropping points against Liverpool. Spurs conceded an early strike by Sophie Román Haug after failing to clear a Liverpool corner. Having later turned the match on its head thanks to a Rachael Laws own-goal and a close-range finish from Clare Hunt, the visitors let their lead slip by letting in a second Román Haug goal from another corner. Tottenham’s winless run continued and it leaves them ninth. “We’re defending with everything we can, we’re really tight when defending [apart from] those set-pieces. The first one wasn’t good enough, the second one was good from them, but we need to improve them because set plays can actually win games for you and we could have won this game,” the Tottenham manager said. EH