Chelsea climbed to second place in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table with a 5-0 win at Reading this afternoon.
The Blues are now three points behind current league leaders Manchester United with a game in hand and a superior goal difference.
Fran Kirby dominated proceedings at The Madejski Stadium with four well taken goals. The former Reading forward ran the game, whilst Sam Kerr also continued to impress, strengthening her partnership with Kirby through two assists.
Even though Chelsea dominated, it was Reading who were the stronger side at the beginning at the first half, playing with high intensity. Natasha Harding latched onto the end of a Fara Williams pass early on but she was unfortunately ruled offside before she could pull the trigger. This attack was soon followed by a Williams free-kick that went well wide of the post.
From here on in, chances were limited for many bar Kirby and as Reading fell away, the England international roared into action. Kirby opened the scoring in the 16th minute by going round home keeper Grace Moloney before slotting the ball home with her right foot. Goals weren’t the only part of the game where Kirby succeeded, she continued to harass the Reading defence, breaking down play and putting Chelsea onto the front foot.
In the 22nd minute, Kirby hammered an effort against the bar from just outside the box, sending a warning that she was not happy with the one goal. Kirby soon got her second goal when she continued to press the Reading defence, forcing Emma Mitchell into a mistake. She went onto battle her way into the box, this time using her left foot to beat Moloney who had made herself big.
Reading responded with Harding attempting an audacious lob from 25 yards out but visiting keeper Ann-Katrin Berger happily watched the ball bounce just wide of the right post. In the 35th minute, Kerr and Kirby linked up again but Mitchell came to Reading’s rescue, preventing the latter from completing her hat-trick.
In first half injury time, Erin Cuthbert provided a sublime pass to the back post for Kerr who found her strike partner Kirby free on the penalty spot to head the ball into the top left corner and finally complete her perfect hat-trick.
Kirby didn’t relinquish her pursuit for goals in the second half. She quickly caused more problems for Reading after the restart when she glided into the box, however, Royals midfielder Jess Fishlock performed a brave and impressive recovering challenge to force a corner. In the 48th minute, Kirby then attempted to become provider, finding Kerr at the back post who was unable to convert.
Kirby’s fourth goal came in the 53rd minute when she rushed to the front post to latch onto a Guro Reiten corner, guiding the ball into the bottom right corner with her head.
From that point, the game turned rather subdued with the majority of it played in the midfield areas. Chelsea were to score a fifth goal late on when substitute Ji So-yun latched onto a loose ball inside the box, making her way through the Reading defence before hitting a half-volley from close range that thundered into the back of Moloney’s net.
Ultimately, Reading were unable to handle the brilliance of former Royal Kirby. The 27-year-old, along with teammate Kerr, continued to sing from the same hymn sheet all afternoon as Reading failed to bring the intensity and aggression from their pre-Christmas matches.