Manchester City made easy work of brushing aside Fiorentina in the second leg of their Round of 16 clash. They join Chelsea as the two English sides to progress into the quarter-finals.
Man City will have been keen to put their Champions League tie with Fiorentina to bed. The Sky Blues hosted the first leg coming away with a solid 3-0 victory following an excellent performance.
The return leg would have offered Fiorentina the chance to turn the fixture around and see themselves through to the final eight.
Starting XIs
Fiorentina
Schroffenegger; Quinn, Cordia, Adami (c), Thogersen, Vigilucci, Middag, Baldi (Piemonte 53′), Zanoli, Sabatino, Clelland (Breitner 79′).
Manchester City
Taieb; Stanway, Dahlkemper, Morgan, Greenwood, Walsh (Coombs 64′), Lavelle, Weir (Kelly 45′), Beckie (Mannion 79′) Hemp (Mewis 45′), White (c) (Davies 63′).
How it went
Immediately the visitors proved that they were keen to continue last week’s performance, with the Women’s Super League side dominating possession from the off.
Ellen White put City ahead in the eighth minute from a piece of build up. The hosts however switched the pressure back onto Gareth Taylor’s side just a few minutes later when Taieb was forced to make a diving save following a Fiorentina break.
Embed from Getty ImagesCaroline Weir doubled the visitors lead from the spot in the 18th minute following a hand-ball decision.
The game became much more equal before White scored her second in the 32nd minute. The No.18 had a chance saved in the 29th minute and her second goal had felt inevitable.
The first half ended with the visitors 6-0 up on aggregate and the tie all but put to bed.
The game continued in much the same way after half-time, with substitute Sam Mewis playing a notable role following her introduction. In the 60th minute, the No.22 put her name on the scoresheet following an excellent run.
Embed from Getty ImagesJust 18 minutes later, Mewis capped off Man City’s scoring with her second and the team’s fifth. The game finished with the visitors moving into the quarter-finals following a comfortable tie.
The defeat marks the third time a WSL side has knocked Fiorentina out of the competition with Chelsea and Arsenal spelling the end of the side’s Champions League hopes in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Stand out performance
Mewis may not have started the game for Man City but her impact was undeniable. With two goals, the American international contributed not only in front of the goal but also in the midfield where her quick runs helped to create opportunities for her teammates.
The draw for the quarter-finals will be announced on Friday.
