FA WSL Match Report - Reading 2 Chelsea 2

Reading 2 Chelsea 2

Goals from Karen Carney and Eniola Aluko helped the Blues come from behind against Reading, but a stoppage-time leveller for the Royals ended our flawless start to the WSL1 campaign.
The Blues recovered from the novelty of trailing in the league for the first time so far this term and looked to be heading for a fifth straight victory in the WSL1. Fresh from her decisive contribution last weekend, Carney found the equaliser from another flawless set-piece, before Aluko netted her fifth goal of the season to put us ahead. However, an own goal from Magda Eriksson deep into injury time ensured it was only a point for the Blues.
Emma Hayes made limited changes to her line-up for what promised to be a demanding league encounter, though sandwiched in the middle of our Champions League round-of-16 tie against Rosengard. Gemma Davison was one of three English players back in the starting XI, replacing Crystal Dunn having appeared from the bench in our previous two games.
Drew Spence and Carney also returned to the side. Spence led the line alongside Fran Kirby in place of Ramona Bachmann, while Carney, who scored a stoppage-time penalty to earn us three points at Bristol, came in for Ji So-Yun and operated in a free role behind the front two.

Both Reading and Chelsea, playing in our third kit, wore poppies on their shirts and took part in a minute’s silence before the match to honour Remembrance Sunday.

The opening exchanges set the pattern for the rest of the match, with Chelsea preferring to play out from the back and dominating possession. Meanwhile, Reading pressed us high up the pitch and searched for direct passes into their attackers whenever they won the ball.
Spence forced a decent save from Mary Earps within the first five minutes thanks to some tenacious play inside the penalty area. The Blues No 24 fought hard to forge a yard of space and test the goalkeeper with a low, left-footed strike across goal, albeit at a tight angle.
Kirby was next to challenge her England colleague. A perfectly weighted pass from Davison put her through on goal, but an onrushing Earps quickly snuffed out her dipped finish. We had another chance to go a goal to the good shortly afterwards when Davison decided to cut inside herself on this occasion and launched a piledriver narrowly over the crossbar.

Reading threatened for the first time after 13 minutes as Fara Williams, who scored the winner for the Royals straight from the kick-off against Arsenal last Sunday, unleashed a characteristic long-range effort towards Hedvig Lindahl but her volley was off target.
Carney delivered a peach of a cross towards Spence as we approached the half-hour mark but the experienced defender Jo Potter managed to get her head to it first. Katie Chapman followed up moments later with a powerful shot from 30 yards, but the WSL1 leaders were beginning to look a little frustrated in the face of disciplined defending from the hosts.
We conceded our first goal of the league campaign on 35 minutes after failing to clear a speculative ball into the box. A punched attempt by Lindahl ultimately fell to Williams, who left Remi Allen with a simple finish after supplying her late run with a smart backheel.
Chelsea responded with intent in the second half as Dunn replaced Maria Thorisdottir in an attacking substitution. Kirby burst into the Reading box a couple of times after the kick-off but her crosses did not quite produce clear-cut opportunities against her former club.
The Blues eventually found our equaliser on 56 minutes through a pinpoint free-kick by Carney. Our wily winger had earned the chance herself in a dangerous position on the edge of the 18-yard box, curling a corker of a strike over the wall and smoothly past Earps.

The match briefly resembled a kicking contest as Williams struck the woodwork from a similar position at the other end. Chelsea regained the ascendancy, though, and Spence gave herself a good opening on the counter-attack before seeing her shot well saved.
Kirby came close for the visitors using her typical close control to weave her way into the area. Spence was again lurking in front of goal, ready to seize the rebound, and it took some wonderful defending by Harriet Scott to turn away a left-footed shot from the former.
Reading were prepared to put their bodies on the line several more times, Kirsty Pearce denying Kirby a tap-in and preventing Davison from capitalising on a positive run down the right wing. Still level with 20 minutes remaining, the game was hanging on a thread.
However, the Blues took the lead for the first time and it was a superbly worked goal featuring a patient build-up and then a wonderful finish at the decisive moment, as Aluko struck firmly into the far corner from the edge of the box to give us the advantage.

It looked to be enough to secure a fifth win out of five in the WSL1 as Reading saw two clear-cut opportunities kept out by Lindahl, but there was one final twist in stoppage time as a hopeful free-kick into the box was headed past her own goalkeeper by Eriksson.

The next task for Chelsea Ladies is to protect our three-goal advantage against Rosengard on Wednesday night as we aim to reach our first-ever European quarter-final. The second leg in Malmö kicks off at 5.30pm (UK time), with live coverage available via Chelsea TV or our YouTube channel, and is the last fixture ahead of the November international break.

Reading Earps, Scott (Jane 81), Williams (Linnett 79), Bartrip, Pearce (c), (Van Den Berg 88), Furness, Allen, Bruton, Chaplen, Potter, Rowe
Unused subs Moloney, Green
Scorers Allen 35, Eriksson OG 90+2
Booked Chaplen, Pearce

Chelsea (3-4-1-2) Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Thorisdottir (Dunn 45), Mjelde, Chapman (c), Davison (Blundell 76); Carney; Kirby, Spence (Aluko 66)
Unused subs Spencer, Ji, Cuthbert, Bachmann
Scorers Carney 56, Aluko 75
Booked Thorisdottir, Eriksson

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FA WSL Match Report - Chelsea 6 Yeovil Town 0

Chelsea 6 Yeovil Town 0

Crystal Dunn, Karen Carney and Eniola Aluko netted a brace apiece as Chelsea Ladies struck six past Yeovil Town at Kingsmeadow.
The Blues picked up where we left off before the international break with our fourth win from four FA Women’s Super League matches since the start of the first winter season and it was our second 6-0 victory in three WSL1 matches at Kingsmeadow.
Four of the goals came in the first half, with Dunn netting close-range finishes either side of a thumping effort by Aluko and a header from Carney. The latter netted an absolute screamer after the break and then Chelsea's No9 steered home a volley to secure a resounding victory which raised our positive goal difference to 19, having also preserved our 100 per cent clean sheet record.
There was no denying which side were expected to prevail on paper in this top-versus-bottom encounter, with our newly-promoted opponents yet to trouble the scoresheet in their first full season at this level. Chelsea never underestimated the importance of their task, however, and displayed high standards throughout a game teeming with chances.
Emma Hayes opted for a more offensive version of the back-three formation deployed so far in our perfect start to the season, featuring six changes to the side which starred in our dramatic win over Bayern Munich.
Carly Telford became the third player to keep goal for the Blues at this early stage in the campaign behind our regular defensive line of Millie Bright, Gilly Flaherty and Magdalena Eriksson. Our skipper Katie Chapman filled a deep-lying midfield role while Hannah Blundell and Dunn, coming in for our rested topscorer Maren Mjelde, operated down the wings. It was a first start of the autumn for Aluko, playing alongside Carney, Ji So-Yun and Erin Cuthbert as part of an entirely fresh front four.

A twinkle-toed run by Erin Cuthbert helped set up Crystal Dunn's opener

The Blues were already threatening one minute into the match as Cuthbert headed wide from a peach of a cross by Dunn. The duo were so dominant on the left that every attack turned into a chance, and it was the American who opened the scoring with a tap-in after Cuthbert danced through the defence.
We formed an almost constant presence inside the visiting penalty area and comfortably exchanged passes as Aluko, in particular, used her strength to forge plenty of space. The Chelsea striker twice had shots blocked by Megan Walsh inside five minutes before rifling home with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The league leaders earned further rewards for our confident build-up around 20 minutes when Carney powered a pinpoint pass from Dunn past Walsh at the far post for our third of the day. The supplier was back on the scoresheet moments later, turning in a rebound after a strike by Ji was impressively saved.

Eniola Aluko smashed a shot past Megan Walsh to give Chelsea a two-goal lead

Walsh, a former back-up keeper to Telford at Notts County, was by far the major figure for the Yeovil, with Chelsea threatening to add to our lead from every attack. Ji nearly pulled off a cheeky chip into the far corner after two defenders collided shortly before half-time. Aluko came close to offering the boisterous home fans more reasons to smile when her deflected shot cannoned off the post.

A powerful header from Karen Carney put the Blues 3-0 up

Though we did not have Glovers on the ropes like in the first period, the goals kept coming for Chelsea after the interval. Dunn was inches away from her hat-trick after turning a cross from Carney onto the woodwork. Carney needed no invitation to score her second from miles out on the hour mark as the England international let rip from the left flank and fired into the far corner out of nowhere.

Crystal Dunn slots home her second goal of the game

Aluko completed a hat-trick of braces for seasoned Chelsea forwards, shattering the net with a brilliantly timed volley from a Carney free-kick. On the weekend England goes into daylight saving time, the Blues looked keen to turn the clock back to the WSL Spring Series with another 6-0 victory over Yeovil.
Our flawless record so far, including two more six-goal wins from September against Bristol City and Sunderland and a comfortable defeat of Liverpool, leaves the Blues level with Man City at the top of the WSL1 table.

Chelsea Ladies are on a tight schedule for the first half of November involving five matches in two weeks, starting with three cup ties. Next up are trips to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday and Bristol City on Saturday for our opening group games in the Continental Tyres Cup. We will then return to Kingsmeadow for the first leg of our Champions League showdown with Rosengård, which kicks off at 7.05pm on Wednesday 8 November.

Karen Carney scored the pick of the goals with a stunning strike from distance

Chelsea (3-3-2-2) Telford; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson (Rafferty 64); Blundell (Davison 65), Chapman (c) (Bachmann 74), Dunn; Carney, Ji; Cuthbert, Aluko
Unused subs Spencer, Thorisdottir, Mjelde, Kirby
Scorers Dunn 8, 22, Aluko 18, 69, Carney 20, 63
Booked Bright 66

Yeovil Town Walsh (c), Cousins, Gemma Evans, Jackson, Georgia Evans, Jones, Lloyd, Lawrence, Green, Pusey (Melton 82), Aldridge (Burridge 59)
Unused subs Lambe, Howard, Miles, Hignett, Buxton

Crowd 1,821

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FA WSL Match Report - Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0

Chelsea Ladies continued our perfect start to the season on Saturday lunchtime with Maren Mjelde's early goal securing a narrow victory over Liverpool.
Back at Kingsmeadow following consecutive 6-0 wins in the Women’s Super League and a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of our Champions League last-32 tie, the Blues passed an early test of our title credentials with a 1-0 win and a dominant display.
A third goal of the season from Mjelde on 14 minutes proved the difference as Chelsea clinched our sixth league victory in a row against the two-time WSL1 champions.

On top of achieving our fourth successive clean sheet, a rotated Chelsea XI showed the attacking strength that has brought us to top of the table with a +13 goal difference.
The WSL 1 leaders returned to Kingston with six changes to the team who earned our hard-fought win in midweek. Becky Spencer began in goal for the first time since our 2016 campaign behind the consistent back three of Millie Bright, Gilly Flaherty and Magdalena Eriksson, with midfield pivots Katie Chapman and Mjelde the other players to keep their starting berth.
Emma Hayes gave a more offensive flavour to the flanks as Gemma Davison came back in for Maria Thorisdottir on the left wing, while Crystal Dunn, who returned from injury as a substitute against Bayern, made her first start of the new winter season instead of Hannah Blundell on the right. Erin Cuthbert led a revamped Blues frontline ahead of Ji So-Yun and Karen Carney.
The Liverpool line-up featured a number of familiar faces with six former Chelsea players in their starting XI. Scott Rogers stuck with the 4-3-3 formation employed in their previous games, a win against Everton and loss to Reading, comprising a midfield made up entirely of ex-Blues Sophie Ingle, Kate Longhurst and Laura Coombs. Also returning to their old club were Reds goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, alongside centre-backs Gemma Bonner and Casey Stoney.
It was almost a dream start for the home side when Eriksson found Ji in acres of space with a wonderful cross inside the first couple of minutes, and the South Korean only just missed the target.

Cuthbert had an early shot blocked on the edge of the box after Carney forced her way to the byline with a nimble run down the left, but enough defenders were back to keep the Blues at bay.
Liverpool looked to threaten using the pace of Jess Clarke through the central channel and put together a strong spell of possession around the 10-minute mark before Chelsea took the lead.
The stream of Blue on the left wing turned into a torrent as a fleet-footed drive from Davison brought in Mjelde, who fired a wonderful strike through a sea of defenders low into the far corner.

Chelsea nearly found further reward for our patient build-up play when Dunn filtered the ball through to Carney, whose shot was narrowly turned behind. Our attackers tried to turn the screw with a succession of corners midway through the first period and required some last-ditch defending by Liverpool to prevent Ji from converting.
Cuthbert had a good chance to score after latching onto an inch-perfect ball after 35 minutes but the 19-year-old could not quite beat Chamberlain on the stretch in a 50-50 challenge.
Davison, who won two league titles during a spell on Merseyside, was once again integral for Hayes’s side. Her booking before the break was the only blot on her brilliant first-half performance.

The Blues were not far from repeating our flying start after the interval when a curling cross from Carney almost crept in at the far post. The England international would have become our 10th different goalscorer at this early stage of the campaign.

There was a sudden let-off for the hosts as Clarke found herself through on goal but her first touch was too heavy for the forward to bear down on Spencer.

Cuthbert was replaced on the hour mark as Fran Kirby and co continued to pile on the pressure. Dunn and Davison seemed to be swapping flanks incessantly and posed constant problems for the Reds back four, forced to put bodies on the line.

Mjelde had another great effort with a bending shot from 20 yards that tested Chamberlain, and substitutes Drew Spence and Eni Aluko were entrusted to lead the attack in run-up to full time. The chances came in dribs and drabs as Liverpool inevitably started to push players forward, with Aluko denied by a fine save from Chamberlain.
Chelsea held on for our fourth win in a fortnight and attention now turns to Wednesday night with the second leg of our Champions League last-32 tie against Bayern Munich. Kick-off is at 7pm and the game is live on Chelsea TV.

Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Spencer; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Dunn, Chapman, Mjelde, Davison; Ji (Spence 76), Carney (Aluko 83); Cuthbert (Kirby 60)
Unused subs Thorisdottir, Blundell, Rafferty, Telford
Scorers Mjelde 14
Booked Davison 43

Liverpool Chamberlain, Bonner, Ingle, Stoney, Greenwood, Murray, Longhurst, Coombs, Charles (Weir 74), Clarke (Hodson 74), Harding
Unused subs Flaherty, Fletcher, Harris, Johnson

Crowd 2,116

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FA WSL Match Report - Sunderland 0 Chelsea 6

Sunderland 0 Chelsea 6

A quick-fire brace from Gemma Davison helped us to a second straight 6-0 victory at the start of the WSL1 season.
A week on from hitting Bristol City for six in our first game at Kingsmeadow, we spoiled Sunderland's maiden fixture at Marriners Park, although the locals were at least treated to a collection of goals of the highest order.
Fran Kirby brilliantly curled home our first, but we had to wait until after the interval for our dominance to tell. Davison netted twice in the space of four minutes, the first of which was a fine solo effort, and then a glut of goals arrived in the final 20 minutes; Ji struck a wonderful fourth and substitutes Erin Cuthbert and Eniola Aluko scored in quick succession.
With manager Emma Hayes missing the game after being advised by the doctor not to travel due to a bug, assistant manager Paul Green took the reins and named a starting XI featuring three changes to the side which beat Bristol last Sunday.
Maria Thorisdottir, Hannah Blundell and Drew Spence made way for Millie Bright, Ji and Ramona Bachmann. The latter pair began as part of our front three, which meant Karen Carney dropping into a right wing-back role, while Bright was a straight swap for Thorisdottir at right centre-half.
The home side were eager to make a good impression in their first game at their new Mariners Park home, but it was Bachmann who almost made an immediate impression on her first start of the season, firing a low shot at goal after good interplay between Ji and Kirby.
The latter seemed to be at the heart of all our best moves as we began to find our rhythm as the first half wore on, yet it was almost the simplest of build-ups which so nearly led to a shock opener for the home side. A hopeful punt up field caught out Magda Eriksson, who was indebted to her fellow Swedish international Hedvig Lindahl's fine save with her feet.
Fittingly, though, the deadlock was broken by the brilliant Kirby. Having missed one clear opportunity with her head, she then conjured up a moment of magic. The link-up with Bachmann was as slick as we've come to expect from the two, opening up a yard of space on the edge of the box for the Blues No14 to curl a sumptuous effort into the far corner.
That advantage should have been extended before the half-time interval, as first Bright, following a neat one-two with Kirby, fired wide and then skipper Katie Chapman was denied by a wonderful reflex save by Anke Preuss after meeting Carney's cross with a powerful header.
Neither side made any changes at the half-time break and the second period began much the same way as the first ended, with Chelsea in the ascendancy. Davison stung the palms of Preuss with a fierce drive from a tight angle and then, after Bachmann's initial effort was blocked, Ji saw a goal-bound strike deflected wide.
The Blues looked to have added to our lead from the resulting corner, which eventually fell to Carney, whose cross into a crowded penalty box was touched home by Gilly Flaherty, but the defender was adjudged to have been in an offside position.
Preuss was keeping Sunderland in the contest, with her next contribution arguably her most eye-catching as she brilliantly repelled efforts by Kirby and Eriksson in quick succession, but there was nothing she could do about our next shot.
There looked to be little on for Davison when she collected the ball on the left-hand side, but the winger accelerated past two defenders on her way towards the D of the penalty box before drilling a low right-footed shot past the keeper at her near post.
Four minutes later, the winger had her second, this one a far more straightforward effort. The hard work was done by Ji down the right flank and when the South Korean sent a low cross across goal, Davison was on hand to tap-in.
With the game out of sight, all three Chelsea changes were made in quick succession as Bachmann, Chapman and Kirby made way for Cuthbert, Spence and Aluko respectively.
Amidst the substitutions, Ji twice came close to scoring but the goal her performance deserved finally arrived in the 73rd minute. Aluko was the provider, laying the ball off to the edge of the box and Ji's Cruyff turn left a defender tackling thin air before she curled a wonderful effort in off the crossbar.
Next it was the turn of a pair of substitutes to get on the scoresheet in quick succession, as Cuthbert drilled home from the edge of the box after a corner had found its way to her on the edge of the box and then a free-flowing move finished with Ji squaring to Aluko for the simplest of finishes.
It was another dominant, confident performance by the Blues and our next game is at Kingsmeadow against Bayern Munich in the first knockout round of the Women’s Champions League, which takes place at 7.05pm on Wednesday.

Sunderland Preuss, Brown, Sjoman, Sharp, Williams, Stewart, Lipka, Wyne, Staniforth (c), Joice, Bruinenberg
Unused subs Laws, Lambert, Young, Dodds, Galloway, Watt

Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Lindahl; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Carney, Chapman (c) (Spence 65), Mjelde, Davison; Ji, Kirby (Aluko 69); Bachmann (Cuthbert 62)
Unused subs Telford, Thorisdottir, Blundell, Rafferty
Scorers Kirby 23, Davison 56, 60, Ji 73, Cuthbert 80, Aluko 82

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FA WSL Match Report - Chelsea 6 Bristol City 0

Chelsea 6 Bristol City 0

Chelsea Ladies began life at Kingsmeadow with a resounding win against Bristol City thanks to a brace by Maren Mjelde and more goals from Drew Spence, Fran Kirby, Magdalena Eriksson and Gilly Flaherty.
The WSL Spring Series champions launched our challenge to regain the WSL 1 title in confident style on a glorious afternoon at our new ground in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Our versatile attacker Spence quickly rediscovered her goalscoring form with a wonderful first-time finish to drive Chelsea in front after 13 minutes, before Kirby produced a characteristic clinical strike to send the Blues 2-0 up at the break.
Mjelde scored the pick of some stunning goals with her first on 51 minutes, taking a deft touch to beat the defender before slotting home, and a debut goal for Eriksson with her head came in between the Norwegian's brace. Flaherty bundled in a sixth in the dying moments to put the seal on a wonderful performance.
Blues summer signings Erikkson and Maria Thorisdottir slotted in either side of Flaherty in a back three. Hannah Blundell and Gemma Davison worked the wings while Katie Chapman and Mjelde resumed their partnership in the centre of midfield.
Fresh from supplying a hat-trick of England assists on international duty, Kirby started up front for Chelsea at the spearhead of an attacking triangle behind Spence and Karen Carney.
Both teams made the most of the pristine playing surface and favoured an intricate passing game. Davison looked especially lively for the Blues with a string of incisive runs, cutting inside on the left and exchanging some precise one-twos with her English colleagues.
The twinkled-toed wide player had a 20-yard shot tipped over the bar within 10 minutes by Sophie Baggaley, the Bristol City goalkeeper on loan from Liverpool. She found space in the same channel on 34 minutes before Kirby struck the net in a goal ruled out for offside.

The Vixens strived to prise apart our defensive unit early on, leaving Blundell and Davison a lot of space to cover on the flanks, but Emma Hayes’s side appeared happy to absorb the visiting pressure in the first few minutes. It was almost a dream debut for Thorisdottir (above) after following up a barnstorming run and give-and-go with Spence with a shot on target.
The opening goal came moments later when Carney spotted Spence free in the area and drifted an inch-perfect cross into last season’s top scorer who offered a deft finish with her head.

Lindahl, starting her first competitive game in the Blues goal since missing most of our Spring Series triumph through injury, made a great save from close range to deny Lauren Hemp on 24 minutes. The momentum swung decisively to Chelsea either side of the interval, however, as we found greater outlets for our dominance down the wings.
Another typically towering header from Thorisdottir almost set up Kirby on the half-hour mark but Bristol’s new signing Danique Kerkdijk managed to hold her off, while Baggaley stood strong once again to deny Mjelde as the Norway international headed low.
It did not take much longer for either attacker to convert chances into goals. Kirby stole possession on the edge of the penalty area on 40 minutes and there was no stopping Super Fran as she raced towards goal and drove home to cap an impressive performance.

It was the perfect way to bring the first half to a conclusion, and within five minutes of the restart our lead was further extended. Mjelde showed the composure necessary to take an important touch for the third goal 11 minutes afterwards when Carney teed her up with her head. She nearly made it 4-0 to the home side after more good work from Davison but could not quite unleash the shot.

Eriksson, often touted for her threat from set pieces, notched a simple header at the near post to seal a dream start both for her and for Chelsea at the beginning of a new campaign at their new home.
There was a second for Mjelde shortly afterwards as she benefited from another incisive run by Davison for a simple finish and Flaherty completed the rout late on with a tap-in for the sixth goal.

Chelsea make the trip to Sunderland on Saturday for our first away fixture of the season. Our next game at Kingsmeadow will be against Bayern Munich in the first knockout round of the Women’s Champions League, which takes place at 7pm on Wednesday 4 October.

Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Lindahl; Thorisdottir, Flaherty, Eriksson; Blundell (Cuthbert 69), Chapman (c), Mjelde, Davison; Spence (Ji 60), Carney; Kirby (Aluko 78)
Unused subs Spencer, Bright, Rafferty
Scorers Spence 13, Kirby 40, Mjelde 51, 86, Eriksson 79, Flaherty 90

Bristol City Baggaley, Dykes, Brown, Kerkdijk, Arthur, Humphrey, Daniels (Woodham 82), Hemp, Estcourt, Biesmans (P Wilson 71), Turner
Unused subs Fergusson, Allen, E Wilson

By Danny Wittenberg

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