BARCELONA (Reuters) – A second-half goal by winger Caroline Graham Hansen earned Barcelona a 1-1 home draw against Chelsea in the second leg of their women’s Champions League semi-final to give them an aggregate 2-1 win and seal a third consecutive final.
Barcelona edged Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg after Graham Hansen’s early strike and will face either Arsenal or VfL Wolfsburg in the final on June 3.
Arsenal and Wolfsburg drew 2-2 in the first leg in Germany. They will play the second leg in London on Monday.
Barcelona could have opened the scoring early in the return leg through a close-range Graham Hansen goal but it was ruled out for a handball in the eighth minute.
Forwards Asisat Oshoala and Mariona Caldentey followed with two more chances for the hosts with the clash goalless at halftime.
Barcelona continued to confidently push for a goal to increase their narrow advantage after the break and broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute through Graham Hansen, who nutmegged the Chelsea keeper with her strike from a tight angle.
Chelsea grew into the game in the second half and equalised four minutes later when winger Guro Reiten found the net from a rebound following a counter-attack.
But despite Emma Hayes’ side’s push for the winner which would see the tie go into extra time, they lacked both time and chances to further add to the scoreline.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
