Sam Kerr scored her 50th goal to help Chelsea Women produce one of the most comfortable football results of the weekend in the Women’s Super League. The Blues began the game in fourth place following Arsenal’s dramatic comeback victory over Manchester City earlier in the day, and Emma Hayes was forced to make five changes following her team’s efforts in reaching the Champions League semi-finals with a penalty shoot-out victory over Lyon on Thursday. Aston Villa was viewed as difficult opponent for Chelsea, coming into the game on the back of a seven-match undefeated streak, but the Blues carried the momentum from their magnificent Champions League triumph over Lyon in midweek with an outstanding performance.
Hayes’ team got off to a fast start and grabbed complete control of the game in the first half due to goals from Jelena Cankovic (22) and Guro Reiten (43). At halftime, Chelsea was in cruise control, and their victory was capped off by Kerr’s 50th WSL goal (56), which came in her 62nd league appearance. Chelsea, who still have a game in hand, move above Manchester City and Arsenal into second place and within a point of league leaders Manchester United.
“We want to spice up the title race. It’s beneficial to the game,” Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes said. “Nobody knows what will happen, but I am confident that if our team performs as well as they did against Aston Villa, we will be in a stronger position.”
“Chelsea is in command of the title race. They have the game in hand, and I believe they simply need to play Arsenal. They are not required to play any of the other teams in their vicinity,” Kelly Smith said. “They are the team to beat, and they have one of the league’s greatest managers. They have previous racing experience. For me, it’s still Chelsea’s game to lose, although Arsenal did well to defeat Man City. Arsenal would have been eliminated if they had lost. Manchester United has been at the top for quite some time. Chelsea, on the other hand, appears to be edging it.”
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