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Chelsea rally in late penalty drama to break Lyon’s Champions League dominance

Ann-Katrin Berger - Chelsea rally in late penalty drama to break Lyon’s Champions League dominance - Getty Images/Clive Rose
Ann-Katrin Berger - Chelsea rally in late penalty drama to break Lyon’s Champions League dominance - Getty Images/Clive Rose

Chelsea 1 Lyon 2 (agg 2-2; Chelsea win 4-3 on penalties)

Chelsea's women's team had never seen scenes like this at Stamford Bridge, while holders Lyon have never looked so dejected. This was as dramatic and controversial a conclusion to a Women's Champions League quarter-final as you could imagine, and as Chelsea's penalty shoot-out-heroine Ann-Katrin Berger sprinted towards the fans in celebration after saving the decision spot-kick, the English club, somehow, incredibly, staggeringly, were through.

It took a questionable 128th-minute penalty for Chelsea to send this tense tie to a shoot-out, and then two super saves from Berger to eliminate the record eight-times European champions, and now Barcelona wait for Emma Hayes' team in the last four.

And it means there will be two English clubs in the semi-finals of this competition for the first time since 2018, but after an unforgettable evening, that will be the last thing on Chelsea's mind.

“It was the most character-building performance, even if it was the ugliest,” said an “exhausted” Emma Hayes, who added: “We’d never won a penalty shoot-out as a team, so can you imagine what was going on in my mind? I knew Lyon would come for us today. I’m just relieved it’s over and we’re through that, because our depth wasn’t big tonight, players had to come into the game and play multiple roles. I’m relieved and exhausted.”

Stamford Bridge went wild as Berger – who was treated for thyroid cancer this season after the illness reoccurred last summer – won the tie by saving from the United States's Lindsey Horan. Berger also saved from France's Wendie Renard, with Lyon's third kick, before Lauren James was denied, but Berger's partner Jess Carter held her nerve to score from Chelsea's fifth spot kick and then the German keeper clinched it.

Chelsea's German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saves the vital penalty from Lyon's US midfielder Lindsey Horan in the shoot-out during the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg football match between Chelsea and Lyon at Stamford Bridge - JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Chelsea's German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saves the vital penalty from Lyon's US midfielder Lindsey Horan in the shoot-out during the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg football match between Chelsea and Lyon at Stamford Bridge - JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Lyon were furious that the tie had even reached that point. After a lengthy consultation with Var and a review of replays on the screen deep into added time, the Croatian referee, Ivana Martincic, decided that Lauren James had been fouled in the area by Vicki Becho. Hayes couldn't bring herself to watch. Maren Mjelde stepped up to score with the last kick of the extra time. The French team's dismay on the bench was all-too clear.

“We know once they’ve been called over, it’s tough for them to go against what Var thought,” said Lyon manager Sonia Bompastor. “James had the opportunity, she fell, that’s cool, but I still feel it wasn’t a penalty and the wrong decision has been made overall.”

However, Hayes said: “Lauren walked over to me and said it was a penalty. LJ is very honest.

“For Maren to do what she did when it was the last kick of the game, and she had to place the ball three times, she’s a Chelsea legend. She deserves her night. As does Ann-Katrin.

“You can count on Maren in the biggest moment. What’s more impressive, she took the first penalty in the shootout within a couple of minutes. What’s even more impressive to do it twice. While she hasn’t always played a starring role this season, she’s been instrumental in our success over the years.”

Germany midfielder Sara Dabritz's clinical low finish into the bottom corner with 10 minutes remaining of the additional 30 minutes had looked to have won it, after tiring Chelsea conceded a soft equaliser on aggregate with 13 minutes of the 90 to go when Vanessa Gilles' effort beat Berger at her near post.

At that stage, the atmosphere was flat and Chelsea were deflated. Chelsea's men's team manager Graham Potter was among those watching from the stands, as Hayes' team, runners-up in this competition in 2021, tried to hold on to their priceless 1-0 lead from the away leg.

Chelsea's German midfielder Melanie Leupolz is treated by medical staff after being hurt in a collision - Getty Images/Justin Tallis
Chelsea's German midfielder Melanie Leupolz is treated by medical staff after being hurt in a collision - Getty Images/Justin Tallis

The visitors looked very dangerous at set-pieces throughout the second leg, with their towering centre-half Renard attacking the penalty spot and Chelsea looking vulnerable without Millie Bright who was missing with a knee injury which she picked up in the first leg.

Lyon, the record eight-times winners of the women's European title, were handed a huge boost when their former Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg made her long-awaited return to Champions League action as a half-time substitute. The competition's all-time record goalscorer with 59 goals in European club matches had made her first appearance of the French league season on Saturday and, in that game, scored within a minute of coming on to the field. She looked fired up and lively but headed wide from her first chance in the second half, although it was a half-chance at best, before angling another header wide late on. She scored her penalty, but it was not enough.

The night, ultimately, belonged to Berger, and the decision to give Chelsea their 128th-minute penalty will be debated furiously.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that Arsenal's semi-final opponents will be German side Wolfsburg, who knocked out Paris St-Germain earlier on Thursday in the day's early-evening kick-off.

Match details

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Berger 5; Perisset 6 (Mjelde 6, 73), Buchanan 7, Eriksson 6, Carter 6; Cuthbert 7 (Fleming 6, 111), Leupolz 7 (Ingle 6, 71); Charles 6, James 7, Reiten 6 (Rytting Kaneryd 6, 91); Kerr 6.
Substitutes not used: Musovic (gk), Orman (gk), Abdullina, Cankovic.
Booked: Ingle.
Lyon (4-1-2-1-2): Endler 7; Carpenter 6, Gilles 7, Renard 7, Bacha 7 (Morroni 6, 106); Egurrola 6 (Dabritz 7, 56); Horan 6, Majri 6 (Becho 5, 73); Van de Donk 6 (Marozsan, 106); Cascarino 6 (Malard 7, 97, Bruun 6 (Hegerberg 7, 46).
Substitutes not used: Belhadj (gk), Bosse (gk), Le Sommer, Sombath, Cayman, Benyahia.
Booked: Van de Donk.
Referee: Ivana Martincic (Croatia).