Man City reaches Women's Champions League quarterfinals. Bayern settles for draw in Norway
Manchester City's Manchester Khadija Shaw, second left, celebrates scoring during the women's Champions League soccer match between Hammarby IF and Manchester City at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Credit: AP/Claudio Bresciani
Khadija Shaw scored twice and Manchester City advanced to the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-1 win at Swedish club Hammarby on Thursday.
City stayed perfect in the competition with four victories and reached the last eight for the first time since 2021 — and with two games to spare in Group D.
Bayern Munich was held 1-1 at Vålerenga in Norway and still could earn a quarterfinal berth if Juventus loses to Arsenal later on Thursday.
City joins Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. Arsenal could follow with a victory over Juventus.
City leads Group D with 12 points, six more than two-time defending champion Barcelona, which was facing Austrian club St. Pölten later Thursday. St. Pölten has no points; Hammarby remains on three.
Bayern tops Group C with 10 points, Arsenal has six followed by Juventus (3) and Vålerenga (1).
Back to winning
Man City responded to its first loss of the season, 2-0 at Chelsea in the Women's Super League on Saturday.
Hammarby's Julie Blakstad and Manchester's Aoba Fujino, front, in action during the women's Champions League soccer match between Hammarby IF and Manchester City at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Credit: AP/Claudio Bresciani
Still without injured star Vivianne Miedema, Shaw took charge, proving her scoring instincts after half an hour.
The forward scored from inside the penalty area with a deflected shot that flew over goalkeeper Anna Tamminen to frustrate more than 20,000 noisy fans at the Stockholm Arena in the Swedish capital.
Ellen Wangerheim equalized soon after the interval from close range to rejuvenate the crowd but Shaw struck again to restore the lead just minutes later.
This time, she delivered a powerful right-footed finish from the edge of the area.
Manchester City's Gracie Prior, left, and Hammarby's Smilla Vallotto in action during the women's Champions League soccer match between Hammarby IF and Manchester City at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday Nov. 21, 2024. Credit: AP/Claudio Bresciani
Bayern and Harder contained
Bayern dominated possession but could not translate it into goals until the 75th minute. It had to rely on substitute Jovana Damnjanović, who gave the visitors a late lead after connecting on a pass from Giulia Gwinn.
The Norwegians, who have retained their domestic title, equalized in the 88th on Elise Thorsnes' header following a corner.
Pernille Harder, who found the back of the net five times for Bayern in the previous three games, could not do it again on Thursday and was substituted.
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