Emma Hayes cautioned that Chelsea have the tougher run in after her side cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Women’s Super League to two points with a comfortable 3-0 defeat of Everton.
“Everyone knows we’ve got the tougher run in. We have to win every game. Every game is a cup final,” said the Chelsea manager.
First-half goals from Sam Kerr, Guro Reiten and Erin Cuthbert ensured the visiting team, who have a game in hand over their London rivals, remained hot on the heels of the Gunners.
Hosts Everton boast a squad that arguably should be further up the table, but wholesale changes in the summer, with nine incoming players, ruptured the momentum of the team and resulted in the sacking of Willie Kirk and the recruitment of former Lyon manager Jean-Luc Vasseur.
Everton had won back-to-back games for the first time since October prior to the visit of Chelsea, contributing to over 35% of the team’s points tally. In the most recent, they came from a goal behind to earn a 3-2 win over Leicester thanks to a goal from Toni Duggan and a double from Swede Anna Anvegård. Having dispensed with Vasseur at the start of February, the fortunes of the club looked to be turning under Chris Roberts, who has temporarily stepped up from assistant.
In the reverse fixture Chelsea scored four at Kingsmeadow, but a tough game on Sunday saw them reliant on an injury-time goal from Kerr to squeeze past Aston Villa.
Cuthbert had said that game was “the type of game that wins you championships” and that it had “given the team a lot of energy”. “I feel like we really need to use that against Everton and use it as momentum to now kick on,” she added.
If Chelsea were fearful of slipping away from league leaders Arsenal there was no sign of it at Walton Hall Park. Kerr ensured Chelsea got in front early on. Just six minutes in, the dynamic Australian forward glanced in a cross from defensive midfielder Sophie Ingle for her 12th goal in the WSL this season.
Less than 10 minutes later they doubled their lead. As Everton attempted to work the ball out of their area, under intense Chelsea pressure, the loose ball fell sweetly for Reiten on the edge of the box and she fired in.
An injury time header from Grace Fisk earned West Ham a 1-1 draw at home with Manchester United and dented the visiting team’s hopes of Champions League football next season.
Ella Toone’s overhead kick from close range early in the second half had given United the lead but Fisk rose highest to nod in Katerina Svitkova’s corner in the 93rd minute.
The draw means United now sit three points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Demi Stokes’s first goal since March 2019 helped City to stay firmly in the hunt for a place in next season’s Champions League with a 2-0 defeat of Reading. Stokes’s left-footed strike deep into the second half was added to by Lauren Hemp, who leapt on goalkeeper Grace Moloney's parry to lash home.
Reiten would have a hand in the third too, sending a ball into the middle which Fleming knocked into the path of Cuthbert who fired into the top corner.
Hayes described it as an “outstanding” first 45 minutes and was pleased with the different names on the scoresheet. “In this second half of the season I’ve been demanding more from players in terms of chipping in for goals. It’s important. We can’t leave it all for Sam and with Fran [Kirby] out of the team others have had to step up and they have tonight,” she said.
There was a delay at half-time with an injury to referee James Bell forcing the fourth official Ed Duckworth to step in for the restart but there was no change in the Chelsea pressure when the game did resume.
At the hour mark there was good news for Chelsea as captain Magda Eriksson was introduced after a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
The second half lacked the intensity of the first but ensured Chelsea will have the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal next Wednesday should they beat Tottenham at home, after the weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final against Birmingham.
Everton, meanwhile, face a tricky trip to Manchester City in their FA Cup quarter-final and, despite the defeat, are looking like they have clawed themselves out of danger in the league.
“One game at a time, win as many games as possible so that when a new manager comes in we’ve got as many points as possible and are in a good place and have a good platform to get back into a position in the league we know we should be in,” said Roberts.
