MANCHESTER CITY’S Champions League dreams were dealt a huge blow after their 3-0 loss to Barcelona in the quarter-final first leg.
Barca took the lead through Asistat Oshoala, before Mariona Caldentey added a second with a penalty and Jenni Hermoso put the game to bed.
The Spanish side dominated the first half and could’ve scored a few more if it weren’t for the heroics of City keeper Ellie Roebuck.
Gareth Taylor’s side gave away possession too cheaply and he wasn’t surprised that it cost them.
He said: “Obviously that was going to cost us, I think we needed to be better on the ball, I think we needed to restart our actions.
“We knew we’d be able to to pull them from one side of the pitch to try to capitalise over the other side.
“We were a little bit impatient at times and they’re quite good at pressing and we turned over possession a little bit cheaply.”
City came to life in the second period and had a few chances to claw one back, including a heart-breaking penalty miss from Chloe Kelly.
The penalty kick came in the 55th minute when Lauren Hemp went on a dazzling run and was brought down in the box.
Kelly stepped up but drove her effort directly at Sandra Panos who pushed it over the bar.
Taylor summed up the second half as “disappointing,” and expressed his frustration at his side not converting their opportunities.
He added: “I think the goals in the second half were disappointing, I think especially the opening six, seven minutes of the second half.
“Especially when we’ve just spoke about hanging on in there and making sure that we’re resolute, making sure we close the spaces and we’ll get opportunities.
“And that happened, it’s just that we gave them one beforehand and going two-nil was obviously difficult, we had the penalty, we had other chances.
“And like I say, I think it’s one to look at for next week.”
Despite Kelly’s penalty miss, Taylor wasn’t too harsh on her and said she’d score more penalties for the club in future.
He continued: “Chloe Kelly has done great for us this season, she has scored penalties for us this season and will do in the future.
“It’s not just looking at the penalty but it’s looking at the good opportunities we had and to come away without scoring, given the form we’ve been in, is disappointing.”
Barca had no such problems in front of goal and took their tally to 102 goals in just 21 matches.
Oshoala opened the scoring in the 34 minute with a ferocious strike that flew past Roebuck and went in off the post.
Their second came when they were awarded a penalty after Demi Stokes clumsily floored Oshoala in the 52 minute, which Mariona Caldentey converted.
And Jenni Hermoso virtually put the game out of City’s reach when she slotted home from close range in the 86th minute.
But Taylor is not phased by the result and claims that City can turn the deficit around when the two sides meet again next week at the Academy Stadium.
He said: “I don’t think it’s a tough task, I think we can turn it around.
“I think it’s well within our capabilities, you know the way the team has performed this season, the goals that we have scored, I think we can do it, no problem at all.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
