Carpenter hails Chelsea response in Champions League win | OneFootball

Ellie Carpenter praised Chelsea’s second-half response after they secured a 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Champions League qualification tie.

The Blues went into half-time level after Ainhoa Marin’s stunning opener was cancelled out by Naomi Girma.

Veerle Buurman headed Chelsea in front after the break, but Real Sociedad quickly equalised before substitute Melvine Malard scored twice on her debut and Lauren James added a fifth late on.

Carpenter played a key role in the victory, providing two assists, and believes Chelsea showed their quality after a difficult opening 45 minutes.

“It is quite hard going straight into such a big, important game,” Carpenter said.

“Some of us are not really used to that. It was a good test for us, and obviously in the first half we were a bit rusty, and we had to fix things up; we really had to get into the game.

“We came out in the second half and really gave it to them, playing with strength and confidence as well. It was a great team performance all round.”

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