Manchester City beat Gothenburg 3-0; aggregate 5-1; Chelsea beat Benfica 3-0 Benfica; aggregate 8-0; Glasgow City lose 1-0 to Sparta Prague and 3-1 on aggregate
Thursday 17 December 2020 07:42, UK
Chelsea and Manchester City cruised into the last 16 of the Women's Champions League with wins against Benfica and Gothenburg.
A stunning long-range goal from England forward Lauren Hemp set City on the way to a 3-0 home win against the Swedish side, while Bethany England's double helped Chelsea beat Benfica by the same score at Kingmeadow.
But last season's surprise semi-finalists, Scottish champions Glasgow City, went out against Sparta Prague as a 1-0 home defeat saw them go lose 3-1 on aggregate.
Lauren Hemp announced her return from injury with a superb curled effort to help secure Manchester City's passage into the last 16.
The PFA Young Player of the Year struck from 25 yards to open the scoring in the second leg clash against Gothenburg.
City, who led 2-1 from the first leg in Sweden, wrapped up the 3-0 home win thanks to a quickfire double from substitute Georgia Stanway in the second half.
Afterwards, Hemp was still pinching herself about her first goal of the season after missing the opening months of the 2020/21 campaign through injury.
"I couldn't believe it really, I've never shot from outside the box that far away before," said Hemp.
"I still can't believe it, I didn't really celebrate I just stood there, it was pretty crazy.
"Obviously I've had a difficult few months with injury and getting back to full fitness, so I'm really pleased with the result and the part I played in the performance."
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes fielded a full-strength starting XI despite a five-goal cushion from their first-leg trip to Portugal.
The decision paid off as Chelsea cruised into the last 16 with a 3-0 win over the Portuguese champions to go through 8-0 on aggregate.
Bethany England put Chelsea ahead with a powerful 27th-minute strike before Australia forward Sam Kerr scored on her European debut to make it 2-0. England wrapped up the win in stoppage time as she backheeled in Fran Kirby's cross.
Glasgow City's campaign ended at the last-32 stage as they failed to overturn their first-leg deficit against Sparta Prague.
City trailed 2-1 after the trip to the Czech Republic and slipped further behind when Lucie Martinkova pounced on a poor pass from Nicole Robertson and slipped the ball past goalkeeper Lee Alexander.
Leanne Ross missed a late penalty for the Scottish champions as the visitors finished with 10 players when Pavlina Nepokojova was sent off four minutes from time for a late challenge on Leanne Crichton.
It is the first time since 2017 City have failed to reach the last 16.
