In front of over 20,000 supporters at the Tele2 Arena, the Blues booked our place into the knockout stages of the prestigious European competition thanks to a gritty 2-1 win over hosts Hammarby.
After weathering an early storm in Stockholm, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw opened the scoring with a deflected strike which handed us a slender lead at the break.
However, the hosts hit back shortly after the interval when Ellen Wangerheim tapped home from close range – but the Blues responded brilliantly in what was a cauldron of noise.
Moments later, Jess Park darted up the field and teed up Bunny who rifled into the roof of the net from range – helping us to three points.
It means we have reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2021 with two Group D assignments to play.
And Taylor says he’s delighted with his side’s display in testing conditions.
“I’m really pleased,” he declared.
“It was about qualification for us tonight. There were a couple of way we could do it, obviously we knew a point was enough, but I don’t think the players were thinking that way.
“It was a really gritty performance and rally difficult on this pitch. It probably doesn’t look it for the viewers at home watching it. But it was a really lively surface and we worked so hard.
“I felt there were some areas we could of control the play better. Have to give credit to Hammarby, they were really aggressive. The referee was one our side a little bit in the first half and maybe not in the second.
“I’m really pleased and proud of the players, they really dug in tonight. You come away from a hostile environment with a win.”
Watch Taylor’s full post match interview in the video player above!
