Chelsea top of WSL after thrashing Aston Villa
Chelsea returned to the top of the Barclays FA WSL table following a commanding 4-0 victory over Aston Villa, extending their unbeaten run in the league to a record-breaking 32 games.
The 2019/20 champions took a 2-0 advantage into half-time thanks to Sam Kerr and Bethany England strikes, before Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson wrapped up the points.
In former QPR man Marcus Bignot’s first game as interim manager, Villa were left fearing the worst as Chelsea took the lead after just three minutes. A cross from the left was headed clear to the edge of the box and Kerr thumped the ball into the roof of the net on the half-volley.
It was one-way traffic throughout the first half as Villa defended deep, successfully limiting the visitors to few clear-cut opportunities.
England clipped the crossbar with a shot from just outside the area, but she managed to double Chelsea’s lead towards the end of the first half, powering home a header from close-range after a patient passing move found Kerr free on the right with space to cross.
Aston Villa grew into the game early in the second half. Asmita Ale intercepted the ball to spring a counter-attack, releasing Stine Larsen in behind the Chelsea defence but a heavy touch allowed Carly Telford to collect.
Sophie Haywood’s dangerous cross then narrowly evaded the Danish striker, but Chelsea went close to extending their lead through Harder and Sophie Ingle.
Harder finally got on the scoresheet when she was teed up by Guro Reiten to drill a low shot past Lisa Weiss. Eriksson soon grabbed the fourth as she converted Reiten’s free-kick.
Mana Iwabuchi should have pulled one back for Villa when put through on goal but her low shot was kept out by Telford to preserve a clean sheet and complete a satisfying night’s work for Emma Hayes’ side.
Hayes said:”We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. You learn with the highs and lows of winning and losing that you have to remove all the emotion from that.
“You have to constantly remind yourself of the daily processes you have to go through to get a win.
“I’m always conscious of not being complacent, of demanding higher standards every time. I’ve been able to achieve that because I’ve got a brilliant group of staff around me to help keep those standards high.
“I know that the threats are bigger than they’ve ever been in this game but I also know the quality that we’ve got amongst us.
“I know that everyone thinks everything’s centred around the haves and the have nots, but that’s not the case. We’ve developed a lot of talent here, some at the early stages of their careers, some midway through it.
“We’ve been able to acquire and most importantly keep players here because it’s an environment where fundamentally they know they’re going to compete for honours and do the best we can by them as human beings.
“You can’t compete for anything in league seasons until that last stretch. We’re in the leading position, but I’ve learned what’s it like to lead and lose it.
“I’ve learned what it’s like to be chasing. I know that nothing is certain. Everyone knows that the accumulation of games is horrendous for us down the stretch.
“I always think the team that’s not in the Champions League is favourite. I don’t take anything for granted.”
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