Blues duo Guro Reiten and Fran Kirby have been nominated for December’s Women's Super League Player of the Month award after respective influential roles played in Chelsea’s victories over Leicester City and Reading.
Chelsea ended 2022 on an electric note, romping to a five-match winning streak in all competitions in December to extend their winning run to 15 matches in all competitions and see them top of the WSL table heading into the winter break.
And Reiten and Kirby’s mastery on the month’s league fixtures was on full display as Chelsea thrashed bottom-of-the-table Leicester City 8-0 and dug in to keep hold of a 3-2 victory over Reading.
Reiten has relished a particularly thrilling season, with the Norwegian notching 13 assists in all competitions to produce some spellbinding performances and her role in the Leicester rout was an extension of the season’s theme. The 28-year-old opened the scoring before the five-minute mark and proceeded to assist four more to see the Blues to a 5-0 lead going into the half.
Against Leicester, Kirby was the second to reap the rewards of Reiten's string-pulling against the Foxes as she found the back of the net before the quarter-hour mark following good play from Reiten.
The Australian once again showed her penchant for harassing the league’s defenders as she bagged two goals and an assist before netting the opening goal against Reading, where she served as a constant source of creativity and threat from the wide areas against a grimly determined Royals side.
Emma Hayes’ side enter the second leg of the season with a three-point buffer in the league between them and second-placed Arsenal, though the Gunners have a game in hand.
Yet, the early reticence that hung over the squad at the beginning of the season seems to be shaken off as the Blues’ more typical ruthlessness has come to the fore, embodied best this month by Reiten and Kirby.
The three-time reigning champions return to WSL action on 15 December with a crucial away fixture to Arsenal that has been billed as nothing short of a potential title decider.
Reiten and Kirby are nominated for the December award alongside Manchester United’s Ona Batlle and Leah Galton, Vivianne Miedema of Arsenal, Laura Coombs of Manchester City and Emily Ramsey of Everton, with the winner to be announced in due course.
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