Goals from Jess Carter, Maren Mjelde and Guro Reiten fired Chelsea into the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals as the Blues coolly dispatched Reading 3-1 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Chelsea, who are bidding to lay claim to the trophy for a third successive season, welcomed Reiten back into the starting lineup alongside Niamh Charles up top and the Norway international duly responded as she played a starring role in the quarter-final triumph.
The winger setup Jess Carter’s volley in the 23rd minute, before winning a penalty two minutes later that Mjelde tucked away. A well-worked second-half goal was more than just rewards for a match punctuated constantly by Reiten.
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Emma Hayes named a heavily rotated squad, with attacking stars Sam Kerr and Lauren James both given the afternoon off, while youngsters Ashanti Akpan, Reanna Blades and Cerys Brown were all handed debuts in what can only be an encouraging opportunity for Hayes to assess her enviable spoil of riches.
But it was a ultimately a comfortable afternoon for the Blues. Despite a cagey start, Chelsea jumped into the lead with a quickfire double before the half-hour mark.
Reading looked to have pulled a goal back moments later through Sanne Troelsgaard, but the goal was ruled offside.
Reiten then extended Chelsa’s lead five minutes after the restart when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd latched onto a loose ball in the centre circle and released Alsu Abdullina, who squared the ball to Reiten who could do little else but tap the ball home.
Troelsgaard reduced the arrears by one 20 minutes from time, spinning Millie Bright and firing past keeper Zećira Musovic.
The goal threatened to inspire a dramatic comeback from the Royals, who showed some real purpose in the minutes following, but Chelsea calmly dealt with the threat and saw out the win with little fret.
The win marks Chelsea's third on the bounce in all competitions since falling to a disappointing 3-1 loss to Arsenal in the FA WSL Cup final.
Chelsea are cresting into a hectic fixture schedule, with a return to Champions League duties on Wednesday, with a trip to Lyon in the first leg of the quarter-final clash awaiting them before facing Manchester City in the WSL on the weekend.
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