Marta double gives Umeå control

Brazilian striker Marta scored twice as Umeå IK recorded a resounding 4-0 victory against FCL Rapide Wezemaal to all but assure last season's runners-up a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Cup.

First appearance
Wezemaal, the first side from Belgium to have reached the quarter-finals, were undone by two goals in either half as the visitors cruised to victory in the Sint-Truiden Staaien Stadium. Before the match captain Annelies Timmermans had said that Wezemaal could suprise Umeå but that predicition looked shaky when the Swedish champions opened the scoring after only nine minutes.

Early strike
The reigning FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Marta, fired in a cross from the left to give the hosts' a nightmare start, before Wezemaal's woes were compounded when two-time winners Umeå doubled their lead ten minutes before the interval through a Karolina Westberg free-kick. In the second half things went from bad to worse for the hosts as 16-year-old Ramona Bachman made it 3-0 with a fine individual effort. Marta then added her second of the evening late on, to leave the Belgian side facing an uphill struggle when the second leg takes place in the Gammliavallen Stadium on 22 November.