Chelsea have recorded their first Barclays FA Women’s Super League victory of the season, beating Everton 4-0 at Kingsmeadow this afternoon.
Both sides came into the campaign with high expectations and both were looking to bounce back from disappointing results on the opening weekend.
It was Chelsea who dominated proceedings in the sunny conditions as Everton were condemned to a consecutive 4-0 defeat. The Merseysiders struggled to get the ball off their opponents and spent most of the match camped in their own half.
Chelsea struggled to convert their possession into clear cut chances in the early stages of the match until halfway through the first period when Fran Kirby opened her account for the season. The ball was worked wide to Ji So-yun who played it through for Kirby on the left. The Chelsea number 14 cut inside first time to beat Everton defender Natalie Björn and she curled a delightful shot in off the far post.
Everton will have gone into the dressing room at half-time relatively pleased that they were only the one goal down, however, that swiftly changed when the sides returned to the pitch.
The Blue Girls proved to be their own worst enemy when Chelsea were gifted a second goal shortly after the interval as a loose square pass from Megan Finnigan was pounced on by Sam Kerr and it was the easiest of finishes for the Australian international as she passed the ball into an unguarded net.
Pernille Harder then spun in the area and shot towards goal only to see her effort kept out by a combination of the post and Sandy MacIver.
With quarter of an hour left to play, Chelsea had their third goal. Guro Reiten played a sweet first time cross into the area and Kerr powered her header into the ground and past a helpless MacIver.
Emma Hayes withdrew Kerr and Kirby and you’d imagine that Everton would’ve been happy to see the back of them. Yet, their happiness will have been short-lived as one of the players to replace them, Beth England, scored with her first touch.
A vicious shot from Erin Cuthbert rattled the crossbar and the ball fell kindly to the Chelsea substitute who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the empty goal.
The referee blew her whistle to bring Everton’s misery to an end. There will certainly be questions asked of the Merseyside club following these opening two defeats. They sit bottom of the table with a negative goal difference of eight with no goals scored, however, they are unlikely to come up against much tougher opposition than last season’s top two so perhaps it is still far too soon to jump to conclusions.
As for Chelsea, that was exactly the response Hayes would have wanted following their defeat to Arsenal last Sunday. This result displays the quality that is present in this Chelsea squad and they will possibly still remain favourites to regain their title.
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