Chelsea boss Emma Hayes pinpointed her side’s defensive record as key after a 5-0 thrashing of Reading returned the Blues to the top of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
Chelsea were under pressure to deliver all three points at Kingsmeadow after title rivals Arsenal ripped through Leicester 5-0 earlier on Sunday and Hayes’ women mirrored that result courtesy of two second-half goals apiece for Sam Kerr and Beth England. Jessie Fleming scored the first goal to get the Blues on their way shortly before the break as Reading were thoroughly outplayed by the defending champions, but it was her side’s stubbornness at the back that gave Hayes as much cause to celebrate as their prolific finishing in front of goal.
“I think we’ve been superb [defensively], especially the last eight to ten games, at controlling the play a little bit better,” said Hayes after watching her side keep their fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. “We are not creating as many transition moments for the opponent. We seem to be better in our build-up and our decision making. As a result, opponents are creating less against us. I’m equally as pleased [with that].”
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Chelsea only went in 1-0 to the good at half-time but Australian Kerr came to the fore after the break with two neat finishes before England bagged her own brace with a stoppage-time penalty she sent flying into the top corner. Manager Hayes was impressed with her side’s determination to break down the defence of the struggling Royals and was pleased to see her side react to her words of encouragement after the break.
She added: “I thought we had a good energy about us in the first half, but we had to grind them down. Reading worked hard off the ball, there were 18 passes and four switches of play for the first goal and I felt we needed to do more of that. It was a wonderful finish from Jessie Fleming. It really helped to come in at half-time one-nil up, but I didn’t feel stressed.
“Second half, I thought the execution of the last part was what was missing. I said to Guro [Reiten] at half-time that the final ball needed to be better, we needed to provide more service for the front two, and we did that. It was a lovely ball into Beth [England] and a superb finish. It was a really good press for the third, Guro then played Sam [Kerr] in. I thought we were outstanding, especially in the second half.”
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