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Chelsea beat Manchester City in the Women's League Cup final on Saturday

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Joie Stadium

Manchester City inflicted Chelsea's first defeat of the season as Vivianne Miedema's double gave them a crucial advantage in a pulsating Women's Champions League quarter-final tie.

Defeat ended the visitors' 31-game unbeaten streak - stretching back to last May - and was Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor's first with the club since joining from Lyon.

Substitute Miedema made the difference for City after coming on at half-time, taking her Women's Champions League goal tally to 31 in 35 games.

The Dutch striker thumped the ball into the roof of the net from close range for the opener on the hour mark, and confirmed victory with her second in the 88th minute.

It meant City got instant revenge for Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Chelsea in the Women's League Cup final at Pride Park.

The hosts were the stronger side in the second half and deserved their reward, having built pressure and tested Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton with shots from distance.

Women's Super League leaders Chelsea did not offer much going forward until late and were wasteful when they did get into good positions. Their best opportunity fell to Johanna Rytting Kaneryd when she struck the crossbar, before Wieke Kaptein's strike was pushed away by goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita.

Chelsea have work to do in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, 27 March (20:00 GMT) as they continue their quest to win four trophies this season.

The victory was a significant one for City interim manager Nick Cushing, who returned to the club eight days ago to replace Gareth Taylor and has shown he can get the best out of this team.

Miedema makes dramatic impact to shift momentum

Saturday's League Cup final was the start of a 12-day showdown between these two sides and it was clear both managers had learned from it.

The first half was a stalemate with the rivals largely cancelling each other out and momentum swung throughout.

Chelsea striker Mayra Ramirez and City defender Laia Aleixandri were locked in a physical battle, while Blues forward Aggie Beever-Jones showed her defensive nous, tracking back and minimising the home side's threat.

With key forwards Khadija Shaw and Aoba Fujino missing through injury, City interim boss Cushing turned to 19-year-old Lily Murphy and January signing Kerolin for attacking impetus, with the pair showing flashes of quality down the wings.

It was Kerolin who came to the fore in the second half, driving at Chelsea's backline and getting in behind on several occasions and playing a major part in the opener. Her cross picked out Aleixandri and, while Hampton pushed the Spaniard's header on to the bar, Miedema pounced to finish the rebound.

Miedema continued to test Chelsea captain Millie Bright, while Ramirez struggled to have the same impact at the other end, although she did have a goal ruled out for offside.

City forward Miedema's impact was significant as she not only provided the goals, but the ruthlessness which City badly missed in Saturday's cup final defeat.

All-in-all, it was a flat performance from Chelsea and they will need to offer more when City travel to London having claimed the upper hand in this hard-fought European tie.

The teams will meet for a third game in a row on Sunday in the Women's Super League, before next week's second leg, but it is clear Chelsea's quest for a quadruple will not be achieved easily.

Their 28-game unbeaten run under Bompastor came to an end – but Chelsea have so often found a way to win and will still fancy their chances at Stamford Bridge, with Barcelona or Wolfsburg awaiting in the semi-finals.

Player of the match

V. Miedema
7.69
6 V. Miedema
7.69
14 Kerolin
6.95
8 M. Fowler
6.62
31 A. Yamashita
6.61
25 Y. Hasegawa
6.57
4 Laia Aleixandri
6.40
10 J. Roord
6.35
18 K. Casparij
6.34
28 G. Prior
6.27
15 Leila Ouahabi
6.24
16 J. Park
6.17
46 L. Murphy
6.15
19 L. Blindkilde Brown
6.01
7 L. Coombs
6.01
3 N. Layzell
5.72
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