A Dominique Janssen penalty was the difference as Wolfsburg will take a first-leg advantage back to Germany in their Champions League quarter-final.

It was a tale of two penalties at the Parc des Princes, as moments after Paris Saint-Germain had a penalty decision go against them by VAR, the German champions were then given the chance to take the lead.

Elisa de Almeida was given a second yellow card for a handball, before Janssen stepped up to confidently put the two-time European champions 1-0 ahead.

PSG will be kicking themselves for missed opportunities in the first-half, but they will be relieved that they have something to fight for next week after playing almost 30 minutes down to ten women.

Story of the match

Kadidiatou Diani and Grace Geyoro returned to the PSG starting line-up, after being rested for Saturday's Coupe de France semi-final win over Thonon Evian.

There was a big boost for Wolfsburg pre-match as their star midfielder Lena Oberdorf, who was a doubt for the game with a knee injury, was passed fit to start.

Ewa Pajor, who is the top goalscorer in this season's Champions League with seven goals, regained her place after being left out of the line-up for Friday's 5-0 win over Potsdam.

Diani was looking a threat for the French side early on, as she had a shot blocked by Janssen after neat footwork in the box and a few minutes later, her shot on the turn was saved by Merle Frohms in the Wolfsburg goal.

But against the run of play, the German side almost took the lead when a poor pass out by Sarah Bouhaddi, went straight to Pajor but her shot was expertly blocked by De Almeida.

After a promising start from the hosts, it was the She-Wolves who were starting to get a bit more of a foothold in the game and they went close on 25 minutes.

Svenja Huth's in-swinging corner from the left was headed over by Marina Hegering, although it was difficult chance as she was running away from goal as she made contact.

PSG began to step it up on the half-hour mark and they went close when Ramona Bachmann dribbled past Hegering, before her low left-footed strike was well-saved by Frohms.

Then a minute later, Sandy Baltimore's excellent cross was headed wide from close-range by Diani and she'll probably have felt that she should have done better.

It had been a rather cagey first-half, with either team not wanting to give too much away.

The game burst into life within eight minutes of the second-half as Sakina Karchaoui surged into the penalty area, before going down under the challenge from Hegering.

Rebecca Welch pointed to the penalty spot but she was then advised by Darren England, who was on VAR, to overturn her decision.

There wasn't too long to wait before the next piece of VAR drama, but this time it was at the other end.

Oberdorf's header from a corner struck the arm of De Almeida, with Welch being sent to the monitor, but this time a penalty was given.

De Almeida, who had been booked in the first-half for dissent, was given a second yellow card to turn the quarter-final firmly into Wolfsburg's favour.

Janssen stepped up for the German champions and she struck the ball into the bottom left corner to put Tommy Stroot's side a goal up.

With 24 minutes remaining, PSG boss Gerard Precheur sent on Amalie Vangsgaard and Laurina Fazer, in place of Bachmann and Baltimore, as the home side tried to make sure they stay in the tie. 

Despite having a one-woman advantage in the closing stages, Wolfsburg settled for the 1-0 victory, as the Parisiens failed to find an equaliser on the night.

The second-leg will take place next Thursday at the Volkswagen Arena, with the tie still firmly in the balance.

Player of the match - Marina Hegering

Although it was her central-defensive partner who scored the winning goal, Hegering put in a commanding display at the back.

She went close to a goal in the first-half, when she headed just over the bar.

The 32-year-old helped to keep a dangerous PSG frontline quiet and she can be very happy with her performance.

VAVEL Logo
About the author