Glasgow City & Valur Rekyjavik Tied After 1st Leg of Womens Champions League

In the strange setting of Petershill Park in Glasgow, the UEFA Champions League rolled into town to showcase women's football at it's very best in Scotland with Glasgow City tasked with the challenge of overcoming Icelandic powerhouse Valur Reykjavic.
   

Petershill is a nice wee stadium, but when you mention Champions League football you think more of Old Trafford or the Nou Camp. But for tonight's women's last 32 match Petershill was the perfect setting.

738 fans packed into the stadium with overflow standing sections being utilised as the stand ran out of seating for the latecomers to the stadium.

As the players entered the pitch to the champions league theme, it must have struck home to the Scottish players that they had indeed landed on the big stage of footballing stardom for the very first time on Scottish soil.

The Icelandic side were clear favourites in this tie from the moment the draw was made but the odds involved in this tie meant nothing to the ladies in the Orange shirts of Glasgow City as they took the game by the scruff of the neck, looking the most menacing of both teams in the early exchanges.

Indeed it only took the home side two minutes to get the first shot on goal and Emma Fernon also went close a minute later after some movement and passing between herself and Katharina Lindner down the left hand side.

The left hand side of the park was to prove a fruitful path during this match with many of the positive attacking moves manufactured by the Glasgow side coming from this part of the field of play.

Valur Rekyjavic were being pushed back into their own half with their attacking options being limited to counter attacks, which were rare but opportunistic in the first half with the first of these coming in the eighth minute when a ball into the six yard area and only a scrambled clearance stopped the visitors from scoring.

This was merely a blip in the one way traffic that was on show, and on 16 minutes Glasgow City took a deserved lead when Lisa Evans met a cleverly hit through ball, darted into the box and fired her shot under the out running keeper to slot home for the opening goal.

The crowd, coaches and players were ecstatic with this goal and looked forward to more from the home side as they continued to push forward in search of more.

Lisa Evans was next up for a shot at goal, again being fed from the left hand side.

This attacking prowess will not be lost on the Scottish coaches and will surely be a source of more goal scoring chances come the second leg next week in Iceland.

Jane Ross was also almost on the score sheet with a stunning strike from the edge of the box but Valur keeper Megan McCray was equal to the shot and tipped round the top right hand corner of the post to keep her side in the running.

It seemed it would just be a matter of time before the second goal would come, but no matter what the home side tried, they could not find the back of the net again with Lisa Evans in particular almost extending the lead a further three times with shots and efforts just going wide. In fact she did have the ball in the net on 33 minutes but had been flagged offside just moments earlier and was lucky to escape without a yellow card for knocking the ball in.

Since Valurs eighth minute effort at goal, Claire Johnstone had not been troubled until a weak 25 yard shot was easily caught by the stopper in the 37th minute.

It was all rather one sided but despite this, the one goal lead held by the home side was always a slender one and although the Icelandic side had rarely threatened the sanctity of Glasgow Cities goal area, a free kick that was some 30 yards from goal on the 43rd minute seemed to show no real signs of danger, but the strike from the Valur player rattled the crossbar with a ferocious voracity that gave Johnstone in goal no chance of stopping but fortunately the ball bounced outwards from the goal line and was cleared by the home defenders.

This was maybe a warning sign that should have been heeded as they headed into the half time break but even after the 15 minute team talk, the second half continued on from what was occurring in the first 45 minutes with City dominating the early proceedings.

The Glasgow City defence looked assured with every pass and even under pressure wanted to play the ball out instead the of the usual hoofed ball that we are normally fed with Scottish football. Kudos must be handed to the coaching staff for implementing this style of play and a pat on the back for the girls for taking this on board and wanting to showcase a pattern and ability that is rarely seen in Scotland at any level.

Leanne Ross went close again with another couple of efforts, but again was unlucky to add another to her sides lead and when Valur were awarded a freakish freekick inside the home side's penalty box for an alleged back pass to the keeper, these missed efforts came back to haunt the home side.

The freekick was battered toward goal in the 59th minute, taking a deflection that ended in the top of the net to equalize the match, much to the delight of the away team players.

Although down from this goal, the Glasgow City players didn't let it destroy their rhythm with Jane Ross heading straight back up the park, jinking one way, diving the other, going on a mazy run that saw her pass four visiting players before being brought down, but this showed the spirit of her side as they battled to come back from such a demoralising goal.

For the remainder of the match Valur pushed themselves into dominance but the Glasgow City defence and keeper held firm to keep them at bay in particular a couple of chances that saw the attackers round Johnstone only to see their shots keep out by defenders in the six yards areas.

City also had another golden opportunity to take the lead again when a rather bizarre headed clearance by an Icelandic defender went toward her own goal with Leanne Ross meeting the ball but shot over, holding her head in her hands as she watched it spiral away from goal.

Glasgow City pushed all the way for the second goal that would mean taking the lead over to Iceland next week and in doing so were leaving themselves exposed at the back to counter attacks and 2 on 1 situations but when required the back line done their job to clear their lines.

The match ended 1-1 which felt more like a defeat for the home side supporters but on hindsight, going to Iceland just needing a win looks all the more plausible after seeing both sides in action and maybe, just maybe, the girls can prove the bookies wrong and progress to the final 16, the quarter finals of the Champions League.

In the after-match press conference, Lisa Evans and captain Rachel Corsie looked dejected at the result.

The Icelandic coach was quite happy with the result afterwards saying:"We had to focus the girls at half time as the first half in particular caused us a lot of problems, we were not prepared for the start that Glasgow had to the game."

Glasgow City coach Eddie Wolecki Black stated afterwards that:"...we are alive and kicking and still in this tie."

Goalscorer Lisa Evan said:"I am disappointed at not putting more chances away but pleased that we are making them."

Captain Rachel Corsie who will miss the next match due to a yellow card picked up in tonight's match said:"We have a big enough squad for squad rotation so I won't be missed next week as there are others that can step in and it won't upset the team."

Speaking of the Rachel Corsie omission, Eddie said:"Jo Love and Emma Mitchell are back so its a massive boost. We may have lost Rachel but we have two others back."

The team travel to Iceland on Tuesday, will train there in the evening and on Wednesday before playing their second leg on Thursday in a winner takes all match.
 
Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated. Coach and player statements are usually obtained at post match press conferences and may be answers to questions asked by other journalist in site.

Glasgow City Share The Spoils With Icelanders in Champions League