City narrowly defeated by Frankfurt
Glasgow City ended their UEFA Women’s Cup Second Qualifying stage with a good performance against European Champions Frankfurt, but it was not enough to secure any points with City going down 3-1, heartbreakingly losing the third goal in injury time.
After losing against Zvezda 2005 with only a few minutes remaining in the last game, City were determined to prove once more that they can compete at this level and today’s opponents Frankfurt do not come any tougher, especially with three times World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz leading the German forward line.
Playing on grass for the first time in this stage, City looked comfortable on the ball and kept their shape well to deny their opponents many opportunities. However, the Germans broke the deadlock just over half way through the first half when a cross ball evaded the City central defence allowing Frankfurt’s Sarah Schatton to coolly control the ball before firing past Angie Livingstone in the City net.
City had a good opportunity to equalise through Katharina Lindner, but after taking on the keeper Lindner was pushed wide and her shot went into the side netting.
Frankfurt then added a second and it was an excellent goal. Following a corner kick, Rachel Corsie headed clear for City, but as the ball came down at the edge of the box, Karolin Thomas hit a first time volley into the corner of the City net.
Not to be defeated, City responded well and pulled a goal back within two minutes. An excellent switch of play from Corsie released Lindner, who latched on to a desperate lunge from the Frankfurt full back to slot past Stephanie Ullrich in the German goal.
In the second half, City gained a lot more possession and Ruesha Littlejohn came within inches of equalising. With ninety minutes played, two minutes were added for injury time and City pushed for the equaliser, but agonisingly a misjudgement by Livingstone allowed Frankfurt a shot into an empty net, to cruelly give them a 3-1 victory.
Manager Peter Caulfield was pleased with his team’s efforts. He said, “I thought we did really well today. Tactically we were excellent against an outstanding side. Let’s not forget how good this team is. They are European Champions with some of the world’s top players in their side. This stage of the competition is second nature to them and a whole new experience for us. Overall, our results did not reflect our performances, but we have taken a lot from this week and it will serve us very well for the rest of the domestic campaign.”
14.10.08
