Chelsea 2-0 Atletico Madrid: Ann-Katrin Berger saves two penalties as hosts recover from Sophie Ingle's red card to earn first-leg lead in Women's Champions League last-16 tie

  • Ingle was sent off after just 12 minutes for for bringing down Rasheedat Ajibade 
  • Mjelde scored from the spot before Kirby added a second shortly afterwards
  • Blues goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saved two Atletico penalties

Chelsea overcame Sophie Ingle's early dismissal to seal an impressive first-leg 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Women's Champions League.

The Blues had goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to thank for their commanding position heading into next week's second leg as she saved two Atletico penalties.

Ingle was sent off just 12 minutes in, leaving Emma Hayes' side with an uphill battle in the last-16 clash, but they were handed an immediate boost as Deyna Castellanos missed the resulting spot-kick.

Maren Mjelde scored from penalty spot before Fran Kirby added a second a few minutes later

Maren Mjelde scored from penalty spot before Fran Kirby added a second a few minutes later

Despite Atletico's numerical advantage they could not push on to take the lead, with Chelsea finding the breakthrough when Maren Mjelde scored from the penalty spot just before the hour mark, and Fran Kirby added a second less than five minutes later.


Atletico Madrid have knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League for the past two seasons, but Chelsea boss Hayes had said before the game that it was the tie her club wanted.

Chelsea had a chance to take an early lead inside five minutes but Ji So-Yun put the ball wide of the far post after being played through.

Atletico had an ideal opportunity to go ahead when Ingle fouled Rasheedat Ajibade, resulting in her red card, but Berger was able to deny Castellanos from the subsequent spot-kick.

Blues goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saved two Atletico penalties on Wednesday night

Blues goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saved two Atletico penalties on Wednesday night

The home side came close to finding the breakthrough at the start of the second half when Sam Kerr fired into the side netting after being played through on goal.

Mjelde converted from the spot after Kerr was brought down by Aissatou Tounkara inside the area to hand the Blues the advantage.

Kirby then doubled the Blues' lead, turning home a Kerr pass in the 64th minute.

However, 10 minutes from time, Atletico had the chance to score an important away goal when Berger brought down Ludmila da Silva, but the goalkeeper was able to make up for her error and deny Merel van Dongen from the penalty spot.

Sophie Ingle was sent off after just 12 minutes for for bringing down Rasheedat Ajibade

Sophie Ingle was sent off after just 12 minutes for for bringing down Rasheedat Ajibade

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