Emma Hayes revealed she was disappointed with Chelsea's start to the game after they thrashed Everton 7-0.
The Blues ran riot as Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, Sophie Ingle and Jessie Fleming all scored in the first half as they maintained their perfect home record in the WSL. Harder got her second late on, and Erin Cuthbert also got in on the act as Chelsea cut the gap to just four points on league leaders Man Utd.
Hayes' team will retain the WSL if they win their remaining four matches. But the Chelsea boss revealed after the game her side made a poor start and she felt performance levels fell below their normal standards.
"The first 20 minutes weren't ok," Hayes told Sky Sports. "I thought we struggled to get hold of the game in terms of putting pressure on the ball in the right situations, so we had to adjust that.
"However, we were really clinical. I think we scored three goals from four shots and that efficiency put us in the driving seat. But the performance in the first twenty minutes, it was not acceptable for us.
"We work a lot on many different situations all week, so when we have to make adaptations, we organise that in advance. But Everton set out the way we prepared. We just didn't execute the start well. Other than that (the first twenty minutes) it was a pretty good performance."
Chelsea next face Leicester at home in the WSL on Wednesday before an FA Cup final against Man Utd, who can also still win the double at Wembley next Saturday. Hayes can also go to that showpiece game with Harder back in-form.
The Dane has been out with a hamstring injury since November, but recently returned to the first-team squad and came off the bench to score twice in the thrashing of Everton.
"With a cup final next week," added Hayes. "Everyone wants to play and I think our finishing was part of that.
"You see with Pernille Harder coming back that we've missed a lot of goals this year without her, and also Fran Kirby. I think the fact Pernille scored with her very first touch shows her quality.
"We were much fresher tonight than we were in midweek (against Liverpool) and the performance reflected it."
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