Chelsea Women hit Vllaznia for eight in the UEFA Women's Champions League as the Blues take a firm grip of Group A.
A hat-trick from Pernille Harder, four from Sam Kerr and another from substitute Katerina Svitkova leaves Chelsea top of Group A with a two-point lead and strong goal difference over Real Madrid and PSG who dropped points themselves in the early kick-off with a 0-0 draw.
The Blues hosted a team they had never faced before with huge confidence after Millie Bright's striker-like goal in Paris was enough for Paul Green and Denise Reddy to return to London with maximum points on Match Day 1. With Emma Hayes still recuperating at home, they followed that up with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
All those fears from that unexpected Liverpool loss seem to have been forgotten like it never happened, and the positive vibe continued at the start of this week as Fran Kirby returned to training ahead of Vllaznia's visit. With a packed fixture schedule ahead with Aston Villa next up in the Women's Super League, Emma Hayes' temporary managerial axis of Green and Reddy decided to start the 29-year-old on the bench.
Magdalena Eriksson declared in her pre-match press conference that the will of the team was to go 'all the way' this year and correct the wrongs of the 2020-21 final loss and last season's early elimination. To achieve this feat, coupled with the ambition of winning the WSL for the sixth time, squad rotation is going to be key. No wonder seven changes were made from the side that was fielded in Crawley last Sunday.
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Too many changes usually result in disorganisation and a lack of chemistry on the pitch but against an opponent with the calibre of Vllaznia, it wasn't expected to be a problem. Although, the Albanian Champions only lost 2-0 to a Real Madrid side containing ex-Man City icon Caroline Weir, meaning some respect had to be shown their way.
Los Blancos took 54 minutes to breach this backline but it took the Blues 44 minutes less as Sam Kerr latched on to Pernille Harder's through ball in the 10th minute to smash home past the onrushing Kaylin Williams-Mosier in the opposition goal.
Both Niamh Charles and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd had threatened shortly before but it was the Australian who opened the scoring and netted her first European goal of the campaign. Vllaznia have dominated their domestic league with nine straight titles and their following in Kingston showed that they aren't any minnows. The few hundred fans that made the trip over from Eastern Europe weren't silenced by that early hammer blow.
'It's all gone quiet over there; and 'you are not singing anymore' were the two chants sung by the home faithful to the visiting fans as Kerr and Pernille Harder added two more goals before the interval to give Chelsea a well-deserved lead.
100th appearance maker Guro Reiten bagged two assists in the process but ended the night with a mammoth four as it was turning out to be not only a dominant and expected Chelsea victory but one where top-class football was on show. The recovering Hayes would have certainly been smiling from the comfort of her sofa.
No changes at half-time surprisingly for the west Londoners who have some more firepower on the bench but more importantly, squad players are in need of minutes for match sharpness purposes.
More goals could have been on the agenda within the first 10 minutes of the second half but both Jessie Flemming and Eve Perisset missed golden chances to extend the lead. Flemming and Perisset may not have their shooting boots on but Kerr certainly did, scoring two more close-range strikes in the 57th and 60th minute with the latter acknowledged by her iconic celebration, with a triple change made shortly after.
Charles, Kaneryd and Kerr were all withdrawn whilst Bethany England, Jess Carter and former West Ham star Svitkova were brought on to continue the total domination. Exactly 10 minutes later after Harder converted from close range to make it 6-0, Kirby and Russian youngster Alsu Abdullina were introduced to the fray.
A Russian-Czech Republic combo of Abdullina and Svitkova made it seven-heaven for the hosts. Vllaznia had officially been smoked by this red-hot Blues outfit but the smoke released by flares which halted play towards the conclusion of the contest created some unsavoury scenes for the stewards. These scenes didn't distract the West London outfit who added an eighth just before stoppage time as Harder bagged her hat trick and the second of the night for the Chelsea attackers.
'We love you Emma we do,' was the final chant of the night and one which would have touched the heart of the recovering Hayes who will sleep well tonight after seeing her side step up to the plate once more in Europe and in the process, move one step closer to avoiding early elimination which is a massive step forward after last year's disappointments.
Chelsea Player ratings: Zecira Musovic-6 ; Eve Perisset- 7, Kadeisha Buchanan-6, Magdalena Eriksson 6 , Niamh Charles- 7; Jessie Flemming- 7 , Sophie Ingle-7 , Pernille Harder-9; Johanna Rating Kaneryd-7 , Guro Reiten- 9, Sam Kerr- 9.
Substitutes
Jess Carter 6-, Bethany England- 7, Katerina Svitkova-7, Fran Kirby-7, Alsu Abdullina- 7
Teams
Chelsea (4-3-3)
Zecira Musovic; Eve Perisset , Kadeisha Buchanan, Magdalena Eriksson, Niamh Charles; Jessie Flemming , Sophie Ingle , Pernille Harder ; Johanna Rating Kaneryd, Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr.
Substitutes
Jess Carter, Katerina Svitkova, Bethany England. Fran Kirby, Also Abdullina.
Vllaznia (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes
Williams-Mosier; Aleksandra Popovic, Lexie Knox, Sara Maliqi, Lucie Gjini; Ezmiralda Franja, Greta Berisha; Megi Doci, Meghan Cavanaugh, Tarah Patterson.
Substitutes
Rrezona Ramadani, Esi Lufo, Viona Rexhepi, Jehona Shala
Attendance
3,022
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