Chelsea FCW 5-1 Liverpool FCW, Women’s Super League: Post-match reaction

Chelsea Women knew they couldn’t afford letting Liverpool grow early into the game if they were to avoid making things harder for themselves in the Women’s Super League title race. Hence the Blues’ attempt at getting an opening goal from kick-off, with high lines to press and keep the Reds with their backs behind their goal.

All the pressure was beginning to get to Liverpool, but they were still holding it together. Unfortunately for them we have a Lauren James.

Of course a Chelsea match against Liverpool wouldn’t stay that way. We need to find a way to make it a bigger challenge, which is what we did when Jess Carter scored an own goal.

The own goal could have led Chelsea to get their morale down and eventually stumble into a draw against a Liverpool team that seemed well prepared to fight to come away from Stamford Bridge with a single point. However that’s not the Chelsea way, as academy products Lauren James and Aggie Beever-Jones would show when the former assisted the latter’s fourth goal in a row.

Getting back in the lead didn’t mean Chelsea were slowing things down against Liverpool, who went to the tunnels for half-time with no shots on target recorded in the first 45 minutes of the game. There was clearly a feeling we really can’t afford sitting back and defend a slim lead against a team that is often so lethal.

The beginning of the second half was truly a battle of midfields trying to wrest control of the match. Once our players started getting a better hold of possession, Sam Kerr unlocked Lauren James on the left side of attack so the young winger could get her second goal of the day.

That really wasn’t enough for Lauren, and she wouldn’t let anyone stay in her way towards a hat-trick. A superb assist from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, only a few seconds after substituting Beever-Jones, did the deed.

Four goals weren’t enough. Kaneryd would provide her second assist of the match to Nüsken thanks to another great run and pass in the box — with Lauren James making the secondary assist to boot!

A hard match on paper made easy in practice by the talents of our squad and Emma Hayes’ expert work. That’s Chelsea for you.

Carefree!

• Aggie Beever-Jones gets her first ever Chelsea start!
• And congratulations to Sophie Ingle who now tops the entire Women’s Super League’s appearance charts with 184 matches!

• Subs are Johanna Rytting Kaneryd for Aggie Beever-Jones, Ashley Lawrence for Niamh Charles, Mia Fishel for Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby for Sjoeke Nüsken, and Jessie Fleming for Erin Cuthbert.
• Four goals in four consecutive appearances for Aggie. What else can you say?
• Lauren James is a star.
• Sjoeke Nüsken gave us a bit of a scare in the first half after falling and laying down in Liverpool’s box before getting up and back on the pitch. Please no more of this!
• Johanna Rytting Kaneryd giving one of her best ever Chelsea performances with less than 30 minutes to showcase her talents is a sight to behold.
• Next up: Paris FC at Stamford Bridge for the Women’s Champions League.
• KTBFFH!