Louise Quinn's Fiorentina seal Champions League last 16 spot but disappointment for Shine & Toland at Glasgow City
Louise Quinn signs autographs for fans following a Euro 2022 qualifier in Tallaght. Credit: Peter Fitzpatrick (ETPhotos)
Louise Quinn played 90 minutes as Fiorentina qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League thanks to a winner deep in injury time away to Slavia Praha.
Daniela Sabatino was the hero for the Italian side as they narrowly avoided an away-goals exit with virtually the last kick of the game.
Elsewhere, Tyler Toland and Clare Shine both featured for Glasgow City as they fell to a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Slavia’s city rivals Sparta.
Manchester City overcame Kopparbergs/Goteborg of Sweden with a 5-1 aggregate, while Kvinner of Norway saw off Minks despite losing the home leg 1-0.
Fiorentina arrived in Prague knowing they had to score at the very least, having drawn the home leg 2-2, and pressurised the Slavia goal early.
Sabatino thought she should have had a penalty when she fell under the challenge of goalkeeper Barbora Sladka, but her protests were waved away.
Slavia, knowing a goal would leave Fiorentina needing to score twice, had chances of their own and Quinn was forced to hook one goalbound effort of the line.
The home side looked to have done enough but, with 15 seconds of the five allotted added minutes remaining, Sabatino headed home Tatiana Bonetti’s free kick to seal the win.
| BANCA DI CAMBIANO HIGHLIGHTS
— ACF Fiorentina Femminile (@ACF_Womens) December 16, 2020
All'ultimo respiro! Vittoria e Ottavi di @uwcl : #SlaviaFiorentina 0-1#ForzaViola #UWCLpic.twitter.com/gAuDWr9SsG
In Scotland, on-loan midfielder Toland started as Glasgow City looked to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit to Sparta but fell behind to an early Lucie Martinkova strike.
Pavlina Nepokojova saw red late on for a second yellow card but, despite the introduction of Shine from the bench, Glasgow couldn’t rein in the two-goal deficit.
There were comfortable wins for last season’s beaten finalists Wolfsburg, as well as semi-finalists Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, while Chelsea also easily overcame Benfica.
Zurich host Austria’s St Polten on Thursday to decide the 15th qualifier, while Valerenga and Brondby’s tie will take place over two legs in February to complete the line-up.
