Brighton & Hove Albion manager Hope Powell said that she was really encouraged by her side’s performance in their 3-1 defeat at Chelsea this afternoon.
Goals from Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr put Chelsea in a strong position at the break but Albion responded early in the second half through Danielle Carter and they pushed their opponents for the best part of 35 minutes before Beth England came off the bench to net a third goal for the hosts 10 minutes from time.
Speaking in the post-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present, Albion boss Powell said that she was really encouraged by what she has seen from her players.
“I was really proud with how we gave it a really good go,” Powell said. “I think Chelsea really respected us with their starting XI and we tried to play a game that would get us some kind of outcome.
“We have to respect the strength and depth of Chelsea but I certainly thought that in the second half, we had a go, we ruffled them, we scored and we felt that we were in it. We worked really hard to try and get a draw but Chelsea being Chelsea, they weathered the storm.
“I actually feel really encouraged the performance.”
Chelsea managed just six shots on target in the 90 minutes with three of those producing goals. While Albion keeper Megan Walsh was largely untroubled other than making a couple of blocks and picking the ball out of the net, Powell opted against praising her defensive back-line for their cover, instead hailing the overall team effort.
She said “We knew that Chelsea would have more ball possession that we would so it was all about us being organised, denying them spaces and if everyone plays their part in that, it is very difficult to break down.
“Credit doesn’t just go to our back-line, it started with our front players, denying space in the midfield, our back-line, our goalkeeper. I think everybody defensively played a really important part today and that leaves less pressure on our goal which is exactly what we wanted.”
Brighton & Hove Albion will hope to build on this afternoon’s performance in their next match against Tottenham Hotspur at The People’s Pension Stadium on Sunday 10 October.
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