Last November Chelsea Ladies were knocked out of last 16 of the Champions League by the same opposition, so they must have greeted the draw against their nemesis with some dismay in this round of 32.

To up the ante the Ladies, who normally play their games at the 3,000 capacity Wheatsheaf Park in Staines were given the opportunity to play their first ever match at Stamford Bridge – so no pressure then.

Unfortunately Wolfsburg relished the opportunity to play at the Bridge and from the get go were dominant. This experienced German side has won the Champions League twice since 2013 and their experience and class showed.

By half time the score was 0-2 and could have been more as Zsanett Jakabfi finished her chances with clinical precision. At the beginning of the second half Jakabfi added her third and all but ended Chelsea’s hopes of progression this year.  The score could have been higher but for some great saves by goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.

Hard to understand why Chelsea, who are second in the WSL1 would be lacking in confidence, but perhaps their memories of last season hampered their play. They certainly have nothing to lose in the second leg which will be hosted by Wolfsburg on 12 October.

There is plenty of class in the Chelsea team and they do have the ability on the day to hurt Wolfsburg, [never can understand why Fran Kirby is kept on the bench, seems to me a player who can always make something happen, but then Emma Hayes is an experienced coach and no doubt knows her players better than me]. Hopefully Hayes will get the best out of her team next Wednesday in the second leg.

Chelsea: Lindahl, Blundell (Davison 45), Bright, Flaherty, Fahey, Carney, Aluko, C Rafferty, England (Spence 78), Borges (Ji 28), Chapman.

Subs not used: Spencer, Kirby, Bailey, L Rafferty.

Wolfsburg: Schult, Jakabfi (Mittag 72), Fischer(c), Gunnarsdottir, Peter, Blasse, Popp, Dickenmann, Hansen (Wullaert 62), Kerschowski, Goessling (Simic 90).

Subs not used: Frohms, Maritz, Bernauer, Bussaglia.

Goals: Jakabfi (12, 38, 53)

Attendance: 3,783

Deger Zekai (Photo by Gino D’Andrea)

The match was extremely competitive and hard fought from both sides, with several near misses both ends, most notably from Chelsea’s Laura Pickett who was denied by the crossbar in the second half.

Deger Zekai, Watford’s goalkeeper produced a stunning performance throughout the game, pulling off some great saves right up to the last minute.

Zoe Cross (Photo by Gino D’Andrea)

With a few minutes left to play, Zoe Cross crossed the ball Bethany England, who everyone thought had beaten the keeper with a desperate sliding half volley. Another great save from the Watford keeper that kept her team in the game.

Chelsea’s Player of the Match Miriaél Taylor (Photo by: Gino D’Andrea)

Undoubtedly Watford were not expected to gain anything from this fixture so at the end of the 90 minutes, the ref’s blast of the whistle resulted in loud cheering and clapping from the Watford bench and their fans, Watford having gained a valuable point against Chelsea with a 0-0 draw.

The game also saw the debut of Miriaél Taylor for Chelsea Ladies who, having stepped up from the U17s, earned herself the player of the match award (voted for by the fans) with a solid and robust performance.

Main photo above shows Watford keeper Deger Zekai at full stretch keeping out Bethany England’s shot.