Häcken Hold Chelsea to 0-0 Draw in Champions League Despite English Side’s Dominance

They had some chances, but everyone did what we agreed to do, Häcken centre-back Emma Östlund tells Disney+.

Statistically speaking, it shouldn’t have been close. Häcken did have some good scoring chances, but rarely had the ball when Chelsea came close to breaking the deadlock.

“It’s tough. We knew we wouldn’t have the ball much, so we tried to counterattack. We accepted that we wouldn’t have the ball much, and that’s the mentality you have to have in a match like this,” says Östlund.

Close call

But as the match drew to a close, the score was still 0–0. Maja Bodin had also come extremely close to scoring the winner just a few minutes before full time - then the scare was real.

Häcken were in trouble from the start, when Chelsea put the ball in the net after just four minutes. The players had time to gather to celebrate, but the referee waved the goal off for offside.

Just under half an hour in, the ball was in the net behind Jennifer Falk again, but that goal was also ruled out for offside.

In the meantime, Chelsea came close to scoring, with ever-increasing pressure on the Häcken goal.

The Hisings club did well to resist early on and created several good chances with their quick transitions.

But Chelsea’s pressure kept building. And building.

Still, it was 0–0 at half-time.

Despite their clear advantage, Chelsea had relatively few clear-cut chances, while national team goalkeeper Jennifer Falk played brilliantly.

The numbers, however, spoke for themselves. Chelsea had around 70 percent possession and an almost flawless passing game, while Häcken mostly had to focus on defending and clearing the ball.

But it wasn’t enough for the big English club.

Chelsea, currently second behind Manchester City in the English top flight, fielded a largely regular team, including Swedish national team defender Nathalie Björn.

Key absences

Häcken also went into the game without two of its key players. In particular, captain Anna Anvegård was missing. She suffered a blow when Häcken secured the Swedish Championship title last week and has not played since. Tabitha “Tabby” Tindell was also on the bench.

Despite that, it was a valuable point - Häcken’s second in this year’s Champions League.

Now, however, the two toughest matches remain.

Next week, Manchester City will visit Gothenburg, before Häcken finish away against French giants Lyon a month later.