Pernille Harder: better, faster, stronger. Chelsea’s Danish forward returned to the starting XI for the Blues’ demolition of Leicester City and powered them to within a point of league leaders Manchester United with two goals and an assist in a blistering first half.
“Absolutely brilliant, she probably played more minutes than maybe we’d have liked,” said Chelsea’s manager Emma Hayes, of Harder. “We’ve got a lot of players in great form going into the weekend so our strength in depth is really showing.”
Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert told women’s football platform Girls on the Ball in the week: “If I saw Pernille Harder coming off the bench, I’d be terrified.”
It is only perhaps when you watch Chelsea with Harder after months without her, that you are reminded of just how important she is, and why her return for the final few weeks of the season could be the difference between Chelsea limping or swaggering towards the Double.
Harder scored twice and provided an assist in Chelsea’s thrashing of Everton on Sunday after coming off the bench to replace an injured Sam Kerr in the 32nd minute. In her first start since sustaining a hamstring injury that required surgery during November’s international break, the 30-year-old was viciously efficient.
“She’s sharp. She’s ready. She’s hungry,” Cuthbert had warned. “She’s like me, she’s a terrible loser. She wants to win every game. You want somebody like that on your team, you want somebody like that to make a difference and it’s players like her who can be the difference-makers in games which are such fine margins.”
The beauty of Harder, who is rumoured to be leaving the Blues along with her partner Magda Eriksson in the summer, is that as well as being effective in tight games she is deadly at running up scorelines and alleviating the pressure on a tired and injury-hit squad.
She extended Chelsea’s lead to three against Everton within a minute of coming on. At Kingsmeadow again, this time for a resurgent Leicester, who are looking to pull off a great escape having lifted themselves off the bottom of the table, Harder exploited space on the right and whipped the ball in for Guro Reiten to turn in on the volley for an early lead.
It was slick and effortless and Chelsea’s snarling and biting at Leicester’s heels paid dividends 10 minutes later when Cuthbert robbed Josie Green and then fired beyond Janina Leitzig.
Chelsea had the chance to move to within one point of league leaders Manchester United, with a game in hand, and they were taking full advantage of the opportunity to close the goal difference gap on Sunday’s FA Cup final opponents too.
Harder got her first of two goals in 10 minutes not long after. For the first, she prodded in at the far post after Leitzig had got a hand to Lauren James’s effort.
For the second, the forward slalomed into the box before squeezing her shot between two defenders with enough power to push it through Leitzig’s outstretched hand.
Leicester’s best chance came just before the break, but Sam Tierney couldn’t quite convert Jemma Purfield’s cross.
James, a livewire throughout, scored the fifth in the second half, collecting the ball wide on the right and shifting towards the box before lashing into the top corner.
Harder was taken off for Jessie Fleming in the 65th minute to stay fresh for Sunday’s FA Cup final. Tantalisingly, should Kerr be fit to start, Chelsea could line up with both Harder and Kerr in the starting XI for the first time this year.
There was room for one more, which Jelena Cankovic would lash in in the pouring rain late on to give them the same goal difference as United.
Meanwhile, Arsenal put four past Brighton to move up to third in the WSL table, with a game in hand over fourth-placed Manchester City.
The Gunners were two up inside eight minutes, Stina Blackstenius scoring both in the space of 120 seconds. That effectively killed the game early on and Frida Maanum and Victoria Pelova added one apiece before the break.
