Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that her side played like champions in the second half of this afternoon’s 4-0 win at Manchester City.
The Blues were second best in the first period but showed some swagger after the break as they recorded their first-ever Barclays FA Women’s Super League victory at The Academy Stadium.
When speaking in the post-match press conference, Hayes said that her side were far from at their best in the first half but Chelsea’s second half showing was much more eye-catching.
“I thought we were poor in the first half with the way that we pressed, I thought we really struggled,” Hayes admitted. “Five away games on the bounce, I was worried about this game today, that amount of travel….when you have one game a week like Manchester City did, I thought that little bit of freshness was the difference in the first half. I then felt that the overload on the inside caused us some problems and we made an adjustment in the first half but the personnel didn’t deliver it. At half-time, we made another tactical adjustment to cope with things that they were doing.
“The first goal was an error and we capitalise, the second one was brilliant counter attacking play and I thought that the second half, the first 25 minutes we were immense, we played like champions today in the second half. The manner how we went about the third and fourth goals from restarts is off the training ground.
“I thought the team delivered a top, top performance on the back of having a lot of travel.”
Erin Cuthbert picked up a Player of the Match award for her performance with her defensive qualities being particularly impressive on the right side.
Commenting on Cuthbert’s performance, Hayes said “Erin will do any job that you will ask her to do and she will do it to the best of her ability. What she showed today is that she can play in different positions, she has been playing in wing-back all year but she had to go to right-back.
“She was tenacious, she was timely, she did it with conviction….I thought that was the quietest game I’ve seen Hemp have. I think she offered us a lot going forward, her possession with the football, Erin Cuthbert this season has been another level, her and Guro (Reiten) have been outstanding.
“I thought she had a great game, I thought the back-four did in general and I have to give a mention to Jess Carter too.”
Chelsea return to action on Thursday when Servette FCCF arrive at Kingsmeadow for a UEFA Women’s Champions League group game.
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