AT THE third time of asking, Chelsea finally defeated a Frauen Bundesliga side in the home leg of a Uefa Women’s Champions League match and for the first time go to Germany for a second leg with a realistic chance of progressing after a narrow, nail-biting 1-0 win at Kingsmeadow.

Employing a high press and a fluid interchangeable front line, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes hailed it afterwards as a “perfect coaching performance.”

“We worked hard on the training pitch for that performance. Everybody knew their role and I thought all 14 players did exactly what we asked them to do tonight.”