After four minutes, the spectators at Charléty Stadium were scared. Scared because Chiamaka Nnadozie, the goalkeeper of PFC, missed her clearance and gave Viven Endemann the opening goal (4th minute). The shadow of a thrashing inflicted by a giant of women’s football on inexperienced Parisians at this level loomed, and it grew when Hutt hit the post on another mistake by the Nigerian goalkeeper (7th minute).
But the leaders of D1 Arkema did not panic and one after the other, Gaëtane Thiney (8th minute) and Mathilde Bourdieu (15th minute) sparked the revolt by scoring two opportunistic goals. Paris had finally entered the game and perfectly controlled the midfield. But Nnadozie’s poor positioning on her line gave the German equalizer to the legend Alexandra Popp (30th minute). The game then became more fragmented and PFC left very little space for their opponents.
Efficient as ever, Sandrine Soubeyrand’s players even took the lead again with a lightning chest-volley combination from Julie Dufour (44th minute). The desire was there, the impact too, but the level of intensity still dropped due to tired bodies. And while she had hardly any touches in the game, Popp scored her second goal, again with a header, to give her team the draw (73rd minute). A fair and encouraging result for the Parisians, one week before the return leg in Germany.
