Three still standing in Europe

Three British teams will go into the draw for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League after completing the second leg of their respective ties this week.

On Wednesday night, Manchester City played out what was something of a formality in their tie against FF Lugano, having already led 7-1 from the first meeting in Switzerland. In the end, the night belonged to Janine Beckie as she scored twice during the first half and went on to complete her hat-trick shortly after half time. Pauline Bremer, who came on as a second half substitute, also found the net with twelve minutes remaining to round off a 4-0 victory for City on the night, and 11-1 on aggregate.

However the same night, Hibernian were unable to turn things around in their tie with SK Slavia Praha and were beaten 5-1. After falling behind to an early goal by Petra Divisova, Hibs hit back to equalise through Amy Gallacher but Tereza Kozarova put Slavia back in front ahead of the interval. Hibs will surely be sick of the sight of Kozarova as she completed her double on the hour, to add to her hat-trick from the first leg at Easter Road, and the home side went on to add further goals through Katerina Svitkova and Tereza Szewieczkova for a 9-2 aggregate scoreline.

Glasgow City went into the second leg of their tie with Russian side WFC Chertanovo with a 1-0 lead and got off to the worst possible start when the visitors levelled matters overall with just three minutes on the clock, Kristina Komissarova breaking through to score. City’s response was swift though, a neatly taken goal from Hayley Lauder bringing them level on the night just four minutes later and on the half hour, Clare Shine fired them in front from a corner. City were playing some delightful one-touch football at times and midway through the second half, a shrewd pass by Kirsty Howat set up Rachel McLauchlan to power in an unstoppable shot and cap an impressive performance from the full back on the night. Lauder, whose goal had separated the sides in the first leg, was to have the final say when she bundled in a Megan Foley cross from close range to finish off a 4-1 win and a great night for her side.

Arsenal took a 4-0 advantage into their return meeting with Fiorentina at Boreham Wood and took an even firmer grip on the tie two minutes before half time, when Kim Little slotted home the opening goal from the penalty spot. The Italian side defended well on the night but the Gunners were to have the final say with sixteen minutes remaining when Lia Walti’s through ball picked out Vivanne Miedema to score her third goal over the two legs and complete a 2-0 victory for Arsenal.

The draw for the Round of 16 will take place on Monday.