UWCL: Lyon post nine in Prague; Barça run riot; Frankfurt survive | OneFootball

The UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage finally kicked off on Tuesday with four matches scheduled.

Here is what went down.

Lyon run riot in Prague

Scorers: Däbritz 3′, Van de Donk 14′, Gilles 17′, Le Sommer 21′, Diani 24′, 45′, Hegerberg (P) 60′, Majri 62′

Lyon scored six first-half goals to run riot over Slavia Prague and put a marker down in Group B.

It appeared over before it even started, and they prediction came true as goals from Sara Däbritz, Daniëlle van de Donk, Vanessa Gilles inside 20 minutes gave Lyon a three-goal advantage in record time.

But the French side would not stop there, as Eugénie Le Sommer, and Kadidiatou Diani fired home three more between them before the break, giving the visitors a stunning 6-0 lead at half-time.

It was more of the same after the break, though Lyon did take their foot off the gas in moments.

An Ada Hegerberg penalty backed up by Lyon’s eighth from second-half sub Amel Majri saw the visitors continue to run away with the tie.

Vanessa Gilles capped off the superb performance with her second and Lyon’s ninth of the night in the dying minutes, seeing the away side a take a firm grasp on Group B.

Barcelona cruise to down Benfica in style

Scorers: Putellas 15′, 39′, Bonmatí 44′ 52′, Oshoala 61′

Barcelona thrashed Benfica with an impressive home showing to pick up a win in their first UWCL game of the campaign.

The defending champions were keen to make a statement on opening night of Group A action, and they showed just that in the opening 45 minutes.

An Alexia Putellas brace was backed up by an Aitana Bonmatí strike in the dying minutes of the first half to give Barça a solid lead heading into the break.

Bonmatí followed up her teammate shortly after the restart, securing her brace and giving Barcelona a four-goal lead, all but killing off the tie before the hour mark.

The Spain star was saw her goal followed up by Asisat Oshoala, who came off the bench to fire Barça five ahead more than an hour into the clash.

Frankfurt survive Rosengård test

Scorer: Schough 90+4′; Pawollek 25′, Dunst 84′

Eintracht Frankfurt survived a tough test in Sweden against Rosengård.

The visitors piled on relentless waves of attack (which the hosts largely stifled) with 23 shots compared to five. But one initial blip from Rosengård proved to be their downfall.

Emma Jansson was bullied off the ball in the box by Nicole Anyomi, and she teed up Tanja Pawollek.

The Frankfurt midfielder then found the net when her long-range shot wasn’t cleared by Guðrún Arnardóttir, and goalkeeper Angel Mukasa’s dive fell just short. The strike was the first goal of the UWCL group stage.

Rosengård suggested they could find an equaliser and Hanna Karin Linnéa Andersson hit the post, but another defensive slip allowed Barbara Dunst to ease any pressure late on.

Olivia Schough pulled one back for the hosts in stoppage time, but it was too little too late as Frankfurt held on.

Second half thriller as Brann edge St. Pölten

Scorers: Mikolajová 68′; Engesvik 57′, Anasi 79′

A flurry of goals in the second half delivered the drama as Brann picked up three big points away to St. Pölten.

After a goalless first half, the visitors opened the scoring when Signe Gaupset stood strong in the box and cut back to a wide-open Rakel Engesvik at the back post.

Yet around 10 minutes later, a stunning long-range effort from Mária Mikolajová outside the box hit off the post and in to equalise.

Then the ball was in the net a third time within the blink of an eye as Natasha Anasi’s header eventually won the match for Brann.