Harder scores hat-trick as Chelsea Women thrash West Ham

By

A Pernille Harder hat-trick ensured Chelsea Women sealed a place in the final of the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup as they beat West Ham 6-0.

Sophie Ingle, Beth England and Fran Kirby all got on the scoresheet along with Harder’s treble to make sure the defending champions booked their spot in the final in style.


Chelsea took a quick-fire lead in the third minute when Harder beat West Ham’s offside trap on the edge of the box, controlled So-Yun Ji’s through pass and chipped the ball over Mackenzie Arnold into the bottom corner.

The Blues scored a second on 14 minutes after West Ham cleared the ball to Ingle, who controlled 25-yards from goal and hit a low shot towards the bottom corner that Arnold could only get a palm to.

Harder scored her second of the match ten minutes later when Arnold mistimed her clearance straight to the Danish international 10 yards out and the striker made no mistake with her finish, firing a low, first-time shot under Arnold to make it 3-0.

England added another soon after when Kirby burst down the right wing and drilled in a low cross for the forward to fire in at the near post.

West Ham started the second half brightly and pressed in the opening exchanges but struggled to break down Chelsea’s stubborn defence.

Adriana Leon came close for the visitors on 64 minutes, driving through Chelsea’s defence into the box, only to be denied by Magdalena Eriksson’s last-ditch tackle.

West Ham continued to push forward and Maz Pacheco broke free and dribbled from the left, hitting a rising shot that forced a good save from Ann-Katrin Berger with 20 minutes left.

But, moments later, Chelsea made it five when Kirby turned goalscorer, tapping in after England’s close-range effort came back off the bar.

And with five minutes remaining, Harder completed her hat-trick with a fierce shot from the edge of the area into the bottom left-hand corner.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said: “I’m really pleased to reach another final. Getting to finals is not an easy achievement and this team keep working and finding new levels.

“We had five chances in the first half and scored four goals and this reflects the confidence in the camp at the moment.

“I made a couple of adjustments today to look for different insights and the team just applied them straight away. This team just continues to progress so well.

“I was conscious of our drop off on the counter-press and, tonight, I saw what I was looking for.

“Her [Pernille Harder’s] aggression was excellent and her work rate was second to none. I thought she had a good game in mid-week but tonight was her best performance in a Chelsea shirt.”

To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com