By Philip O’Connor
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Manchester United striker Elisabeth Terland scored a hat-trick as the hosts overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg when they beat Norway’s SK Brann 3-0 on Thursday to qualify for the Women’s Champions League group stage for the first time.
After United lost in Bergen despite dominating last week’s match, Norway international Terland showed her former teammates no mercy with a quick-fire double, netting in the ninth and 13th minutes to put the home side back in the driving seat.
Though Brann battled bravely, they were undone by their insistence on playing the ball out from the back, giving up possession cheaply and getting harshly punished for errors.
Terland completed a perfect treble in the 62nd minute, adding a right-foot shot to her header and left-foot finish to ensure the Red Devils take a seat at Europe’s top table with a 3-1 aggregate victory in the third qualifying round clash.
Roma also overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit, beating Sporting 2-0 away to secure a 3-2 win on aggregate, while Real Madrid cruised into the group stage with a 3-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt to progress 5-1 on aggregate.
Atletico Madrid left it late against Sweden’s Hacken, flirting with danger before Luany Rosa’s penalty in the 10th minute of stoppage time sent the game into extra time.
Danish forward Synne Jensen then scored three minutes into the extra period to send Atletico through with a 2-1 win on the night and 3-2 victory on aggregate as they joined the 17 other teams that will make up Friday’s draw.
The losers of Thursday’s third qualifying round games drop into the newly-formed Europa Cup at the second-round stage.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
