Chelsea are seeded in the quarter-final draw and will play their second leg at Stamford Bridge given their status as group winners
Chelsea midfielder Jelena Cankovic says players want to give boss Emma Hayes “the send-off she deserves” by winning the Women’s Champions League in her final season with the club.
The Blues have enjoyed major success since Hayes took charge in 2012 but are yet to win the Champions League.
They had already qualified for this season’s quarter-finals by winning Group D, but completed their unbeaten group stage in Europe with a ruthless 4-0 victory away at Paris FC.
Cankovic assisted Fran Kirby and Mia Fishel for Chelsea’s first two goals and was voted player of the match.
“I’m really happy with the team performance, and my performance,” she told Uefa after the game.
“But the most important thing is the three points and that we finish the group stage on a high. I’m very happy I could contribute to the win. It shows where we are as a team. We want to win every match we play, but we’ll take it game by game.”
On winning the competition with Hayes in her final season with the club, the Serbia international added: “Of course it would be really great if we could give Emma the send-off she deserves.”
Chelsea started brightly in Paris as Kirby headed home a Cankovic cross to hand her side the lead within the first 10 minutes.
Hayes made nine changes from the side who beat Brighton 3-0 at the weekend and were often unsettled at the back, but the French hosts couldn’t make the most of their chances.
Fishel made Paris pay for their lack of cutting edge when she headed another Cankovic delivery past Chiamaka Nnadozie to double Chelsea’s lead.
Paris needed a win to be able to qualify for the last eight and battled diligently to try and find a way back, but Julie Dufour epitomised their final-third efforts when she thrashed over from close range early in the second half.
Two more goals came after the break for the Blues, with Guro Reiten poking into the back of the net after a goalkeeping mishap and Maren Mjelde flicking a corner past Nnadozie.
Chelsea’s progression as group winners means they will be seeded in the quarter-final draw – which takes place on Tuesday, 6 February – and will avoid holders Barcelona,eight-time winners Lyon, and Paris St-Germain.
Swedish side Hacken also reached the quarter-finals from Group D after beating Real Madrid 1-0, while Paris FC finished third in the group.
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Much-changed Chelsea come out on top
With the game being little more than a formality and a busy domestic schedule on the way, it came as no surprise when Emma Hayes rang the changes to her Chelsea side as only Kirby and Eve Perisset retained their places in the starting line-up.
From the beginning, it was evident that Chelsea had not put out a full-strength line-up as Paris found success around the visitors’ box.
Goalkeeper Zecira Musovic was forced to claw away a Mathilde Bourdieu strike, while Gaetane Thiney narrowly missed a lob from distance and thrashed another effort over the crossbar.
Celina Ould Hocine should have done better when she failed to hit the target after meeting a Julie Soyer cross inside the six-yard box.
However, Paris’ advances did little to unsettle Chelsea given Kirby’s opener – enabled by an excellent piece of footwork from Cankovic to chop past her marker – gave them room to make mistakes.
The second-half introduction of Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd bolstered Chelsea going forwards and Reiten’s goal put the game to bed before Mjelde rounded off the evening.
Chelsea saw the game out, emerged with a comfortable scoreline and can now return their attention to domestic matters.
Given that this was the first of four games in four competitions across the space of just 13 days, Chelsea boss Hayes can be reassured that her side can cope with the demand for rotation.
- Line-ups
- Match Stats
- Live Text
Line-ups
Paris FC Féminines
Formation 4-2-3-1
16Nnadozie27Soyer2Hocine19Greboval3Bogaert15Le Mouël8Corboz10Matéo17Thiney11Dufour9Bourdieu
- 16Nnadozie
- 27Soyer
- 2Hocine
- 19Greboval
- 3BogaertSubstituted forN’Dongalaat 86’minutes
- 15Le MouëlSubstituted forKorosecat 67’minutesBooked at 81mins
- 8Corboz
- 10MatéoSubstituted forFleuryat 86’minutes
- 17Thiney
- 11DufourSubstituted forBussyat 75’minutes
- 9BourdieuSubstituted forRibadeiraat 75’minutes
Substitutes
- 1Marques
- 4Korosec
- 5Hunter
- 7Fleury
- 18N’Dongala
- 20Ribadeira
- 22Bussy
- 23Sissoko
- 30Flagellat
Chelsea Women
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Musovic12Lawrence26Buchanan18Mjelde15Périsset6Nüsken5Ingle14Kirby28Cankovic33Beever-Jones2Fishel
- 1Musovic
- 12Lawrence
- 26Buchanan
- 18Mjelde
- 15PérissetSubstituted forCharlesat 82’minutes
- 6Nüsken
- 5IngleBooked at 51mins
- 14KirbySubstituted forRytting Kanerydat 64’minutes
- 28CankovicSubstituted forReitenat 64’minutes
- 33Beever-Jones
- 2Fishel
Substitutes
- 7Carter
- 10James
- 11Reiten
- 19Rytting Kaneryd
- 21Charles
- 22Cuthbert
- 24Hampton
Referee:Ivana ProjkovskaAttendance:13,274
Match Stats
Home TeamParis FC FémininesAway TeamChelsea WomenPossessionHome42%Away58%ShotsHome14Away6Shots on TargetHome1Away4CornersHome5Away2FoulsHome12Away9
Live Text
Post update
Match ends, Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4.
- 90’+7′
Full Time
Second Half ends, Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4.
- 90’+5′
Post update
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Sjoeke Nüsken.
- 90’+4′
Post update
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Kadeisha Buchanan.
- 90’+3′
Post update
Foul by Agnes Beever-Jones (Chelsea Women).
- 90’+3′
Post update
Célina Ould Hocine (Paris FC Féminines) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
- 90’+1′
Post update
Attempt blocked. Kessya Bussy (Paris FC Féminines) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Gaëtane Thiney.
- 88′
Post update
Corner, Paris FC Féminines. Conceded by Maren Mjelde.
- 86′
Substitution
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Louise Fleury replaces Clara Matéo.
- 86′
Substitution
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Melween N’Dongala replaces Lou Bogaert because of an injury.
- 84′
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
- 82′
Post update
Delay in match because of an injury Lou Bogaert (Paris FC Féminines).
- 82′
Substitution
Substitution, Chelsea Women. Niamh Charles replaces Ève Périsset because of an injury.
- 81′
Booking
Kaja Korosec (Paris FC Féminines) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
- 81′
Post update
Agnes Beever-Jones (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
- 81′
Post update
Foul by Kaja Korosec (Paris FC Féminines).
- 79’goal
Goal!
Goal! Paris FC Féminines 0, Chelsea Women 4. Maren Mjelde (Chelsea Women) header from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Guro Reiten with a cross following a corner.
- 79′
Post update
Corner, Chelsea Women. Conceded by Célina Ould Hocine.
- 79′
Post update
Attempt blocked. Mia Fishel (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Agnes Beever-Jones.
- 75′
Substitution
Substitution, Paris FC Féminines. Louna Ribadeira replaces Mathilde Bourdieu.
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