Glasgow City 3
Lovera 1’, Weir 29’, Davidson 67’
Gintra 0
By Stephen Bark
Glasgow City earned a place in round two of the UEFA Women’s Champions League after a 3-0 win over hosts Gintra in Lithuania
First half goals from Brenna Lovera and Kenzie Weir – her first in City colours – were added to by a Lauren Davidson strike in the second half at the Siauliai Central Stadium.
Leanne Ross stuck by the same starting XI as had defeated Shelbourne 2-0 on Wednesday.
It was the perfect start for City in Siauliai as, from kick-off, the ball was worked wide to Corri Sullivan. Her cross found Lovera six yards out and she expertly turned it home to give city the lead after just 45 seconds.
City were playing well and nullified Gintra’s attacking threat well in the first half. Linda Motlhalo had a shot blocked following a freekick and Sullivan pounced on a defensive mistake to get a shot away but it too was blocked.
An acrobatic effort from Lovera from a corner caused concern in the Gintra backline but Adrianna Shroeder did well to punch clear.
With halftime approaching, City found the crucial second. A Maddie Fulton corner was flicked on by Weir and that was all it needed to go beyond Shroeder and nestle neatly in the bottom corner.
City started the second half positively as Motlhalo, Fulton and Lovera all had shots blocked or saved inside two minutes.
Gintra had their opportunity to get back into the match with a freekick 25 yards out but Rachel Diodati fired wide.
They did have the ball in the net but substitute Alyson Murphy Pauletto was offside and the assistant referee’s flag was quickly up.
Kozak then won back possession high up the field to open a counter-attacking opportunity for City. That allowed Motlhalo to set up Davidson on the edge of the box and her shot was too good for Shroeder and City extended their advantage.
They could have had a fourth as substitutes Emily Whelan and Lisa Forest saw their shots saved and curling just wide respectively before Aleigh Gambone saw a header wide as it ended 3-0 and City advanced to round two.
Match information
Team lines
Glasgow City: Gibson, Muir, Fulton, Lovera, Motlhalo, Davidson, Kozak, Sullivan, Moore, Weir, Foley. Subs not used: Clachers, Warrington, Lauder, Walsh, Love, Whelan, Gambone, Colvill, Wardlaw, Forrest, Oscarsson, Martin.
Gintra: Shroeder, O’Brien, Oronoz (Romanovskaja 72), Kashima (Kubiliūtė 83), Galkina, Diodati, J. Sunday, A. Sunday, Bassey, Šupelytė (Murphy Pauletto 62), Mikutaitė. Subs not used: Bikutė, Proscevičiūtė, Railaitė, Partikaitė.
Scorers
Glasgow City: Lovera 1’, Weir 29’, Davidson 67’
Yellow cards
Glasgow City: Kozak 63’, Sullivan 76’, Weir 90+1’
Referee: Andromachi Tsiofliki
Venue: Siauliai Central Stadium