Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has labelled the performance of midfielder Guro Reiten in her side’s 3-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Kingsmeadow this afternoon as ‘exceptional’.
The Norwegian international was fielded on the left in a wing-back role and she scored the game’s opening goal whilst being a key instigator in several other Chelsea attacks.
Reiten found pockets of space early in the game, opening things up for Chelsea to attack the opposition defence and to create chances. She also carried out her defensive duties to a very high standard.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time after the match, Blues boss Hayes was hugely complimentary about Reiten’s performance.
“It was a wonderful performance from Guro Reiten, she was exceptional today and got her first goal of the season,” Hayes said. “She has really taken to the wing-back role and she is improving in all areas of her game.
“She has added to both sides of her game. I think defensively, she had to but I think going forward, there aren’t too many left-footed players that have the ability to pick out passes like she does. I know that she gets into good shooting positions, I see it every game, she is a wonderful finisher.”
The game was in the balance at 2-1 until forward Beth England came off the bench to net Chelsea’s decisive third goal in the 80th minute. Despite the fact that Brighton & Hove Albion forced their way back into the game early in the second half and temporarily pushed for an equaliser, Hayes said that The Seagulls were a greater threat when the two sides met in the same fixture last season.
Commenting on Brighton & Hove Albion’s performance, Hayes said “They are a better team than they were last year but they were more threatening to us last year. Is that down to how much better we’ve got? Yeah, I think so.
“I think we limited them to few chances and they scored from a throw in that never should have happened. Beyond that, they only had two shots today so I think we have to credit the defensive organisation of the team to limit a team that have scored seven goals in the first three games of the season. I thought that we were stingy with that.
“At 2-1, they were always going to be in the game which they were and that is why we needed the quality from Beth (England). Brighton are for me, a team that are going in the right direction and I think that they will take points off the top teams this year.”
Chelsea return to action on Wednesday evening when German club VfL Wolfsburg are the visitors to Kingsmeadow for the first UEFA Women’s Champions League group match.
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