Chelsea Women 0-0 Hacken Women: Blues draw

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Emma Hayes lamented Chelsea’s poor finish after drawing with Hacken in the Champions League.

A win at Stamford Bridge would have allowed the Blues to overcome their warring Swedish sides and take top spot in the group.

But they were twice blocked by the post, and although they took most of the ball, they lacked merit in the final third.

Sam Kerr had a goal disallowed after being offside before heading in Lauren James’ cross into the back of the net.

Hacken were well organised and managed to smother most of the Women’s Super League leaders’ attacking efforts.

Erin Cuthbert came agonisingly close to putting the Blues ahead in the first half but her first-time drive ricocheted downwards off the crossbar and bounced away from the goalline.

Kerr also nodded on a corner from Guro Reiten in the second half of the bar.

“The execution in and around the box is what we lacked and that frustrated us a little bit,” Blues boss Hayes said.

“The challenge was our technical execution rather than decision-making.

“If there had been, the outcome would have been different. We would have won the game comfortably, but we didn’t, so we took a point and moved on. “

Chelsea had 71% ownership and 22 shots to Hacken’s six, but were unable to make the most of their control.

Chelsea v Hacken how it happened, more and analysis

Emma Hayes is now second in Group D with five points from three games.

Hacken, who is undefeated, leads the organization with seven points.

Real Madrid, whose only point came from a draw at Chelsea in their opener, are at a disadvantage after losing 2-1 to Paris FC in the final group game.

Hacken, the Swedish runner-up, has played just one game since beating Real Madrid in the Champions League on Nov. 23.

But they managed to defend resolutely early on to engage a torrent of attacking moves from Chelsea.

Runs from Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd looked promising in the final third for Chelsea, while Kerr and Fran Kirby tried to create wallets in the box area.

The Blues gently broke through their Swedish opponent’s midfield and worked tirelessly to break the deadlock, but their efforts were in vain.

Hacken sat deeply, maintaining his form throughout the game and put Chelsea under numbers every time they advanced.

The visitors tried to counterattack a bit and, when they did, they were nullified by the midfield duo of Cuthbert and Sophie Ingle.

Chelsea, which thrashed Arsenal 4-1 in the league on Sunday, named Lauren James as his replacement.

James, who has scored six league goals, came on in the minute and set up Kerr’s disallowed goal.

Chelsea will face Bristol City in the league on Sunday before having a chance to overtake Hacken when they meet in Sweden on Wednesday 20 December (20:00 GMT).

Hacken plays on a synthetic pitch at his home in Gothenburg.

Hayes added: “It is a different surface so we are going to adjust to that, but I am sure if we get the right detail and do it in the right moments we have enough quality to win the game.”

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