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A fresh look composed of Lauren James and Sjoeke Nusken saw Chelsea pull off a win in front of a record Ajax crowd and the breaking point of the Champions League semi-finals.
With regular forwards Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel and Mayra Ramirez injured, James opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Nusken finished the job by putting the goal in the half.
The attendance at the Johan Cruyff Arena, with 35,991 spectators, the highest of any women’s football in the Netherlands, and it was hoped that the atmosphere could intimidate Chelsea and even dampen Emma Hayes’ hopes of winning a quadruple trophy in the primaries this season, in her farewell season. At the club before heading to the United States.
But Chelsea were unfazed and took what appears to be an unassailable lead in London for next Wednesday’s second leg.
When asked about James and Nusken’s new partnership, Hayes replied: “We’re talking about two players, 22 and 23 years old.
Nusken simply has a natural ability to be in the right spaces within the box. The third goal embodied his desire, his positioning and his quality. Again, they worked very well with each other.
“Since she [Nusken] arrived at Chelsea, she has done everything exactly, in each and every way, her application off the pitch, her application and her intensity. You see, not only does it belong on the big stage, but also Someone, no matter where they play, is going to be just as good. As a number 8. . . as a centre-back. . . In fact, I might give him a game of purpose next week just to check it out. . . »
James easily scored the first goal after Ajax’s defense froze and declared offside, and the flexible Nusken, a midfielder called up in attack to back up James, was forced to score the moment from close range and then come on with seven minutes remaining.
“It’s just the break. Often, when you win matches like this, the brain relaxes a bit and you see the opposite performance. We’ve been given to heed that warning,” Hayes said ahead of the second leg. Now we have the semi-final against Brann or Barcelona.
Chelsea will be Millie Bright for the second leg, and Hayes confirmed that the England centre-back has had a “small setback” in his recovery from a knee injury.
Ajax (4-3-3) Van Eijk; Keijzer, Kardinaal, De Sanders, De Klonia; Noordam, Van Gool (Noordman, 87 years old), Yohannes (Van de Velde, years old); Grant, Leuchter, Hoekstra (Keukelaar 6, 73). Unused substitutes Nienhuis (gk), Van der Wal (gk), Verhoeve, Hoekstra, Jansen, Sabajo, Tolhoek. Reserved for Yohannes
Chelsea (4-4-2) Hampton; Perisset, Carter, Buchanan, Charles (Beever-Jones, 87); Rytting Kaneryd (Lawrence, 74), Cuthbert (Cankovic, 84), Leupolz (Ingle, 87), Reiten; Nusken, James (Macario, 74) The substitutes used Musovic (gk), Kirby, Cox.
Referee: Maria Ferrieri Caputi (Italy).
Participation 35,991
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