WSL: Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool - Sam Kerr puts the Blues within four points of Manchester United in title race

Chelsea are now within four points of United with two games in hand
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Chelsea fought back against Liverpool to secure vital three points in their continued fight for a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title.

Emma Koivisto opened up the scoring for the Reds after just two minutes, giving Manchester United hope of winning the league. However, Niamh Charles was able to bring Chelsea into the fight just before half-time and the Australian superstar Sam Kerr handed the Blues their 14th win of the WSL season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Manchester United have never won the WSL before while Chelsea are looking for seventh WSL title and fourth consecutive. The Red Devils have played 19 of their 22 fixtures for the season, winning 15, drawing two and losing two while Chelsea have 14 wins from their 17 fixtures with one draw and two losses registered.

As the battle for the WSL heats up heading into the final weeks, here is what Emma Hayes had to say about her team’s performance...

What did Emma Hayes say?

Following her team’s win, Hayes spoke to reporters saying: “We haven’t played in the WSL for so long. The performance showed that. We have played in FA Cup and we have played in the Champions League, and we needed this game to get back into WSL play because it’s such a different game.

Niamh Charles and Sam Kerr - Chelsea’s goalscorers against Liverpool Niamh Charles and Sam Kerr - Chelsea’s goalscorers against Liverpool
Niamh Charles and Sam Kerr - Chelsea’s goalscorers against Liverpool

“You could see in the first 10 minutes that the team was asleep, which was to be expected in terms of a little bit of a hangover from the Champions League semi-final. When you’re playing in front of 72,000 people and then 1,600 and everything that comes with that, there’s an adjustment and I felt the first half reflected that.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘These players have been going non-stop since July and it is a grind. You dig and dig and dig and they found new levels of grind and new levels of dig in this game.”

Speaking to BBC Three, Hayes also added: “I know we can produce better performances but when you get to this stage of the season you have to get results and I’m confident we can.”

How is Fran Kirby?

Hayes was also asked about the condition of her midfielder, Fran Kirby, who recently announced she would be unavailable for the upcoming World Cup due to undergoing knee surgery soon.

Her Chelsea manager has said she does not have any regrets that the operation was not carried out any sooner, despite it having already been a problem for three months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hayes explained: “You don’t want to carve people open, you always want to try and have rehab with non-invasive ways because there’s risks with surgery. She doesn’t have an ACL injury. She has a piece of bone that needed removing on a patella [kneecap], bone that she was born with.”

What are the remaining WSL fixtures for Chelsea and Man United?

Manchester United have three games left in their season while Chelsea still have five remaining games. Here are there respective fixtures:

Man United:

  • Manchester United vs Tottenham, Sunday 7 May, 12.30pm
  • Manchester United vs Manchester City - Sunday 21 May, 6.45pm
  • Liverpool vs Manchester United - Saturday 27 May, 2.30pm

Chelsea:

  • Chelsea vs Everton - Sunday 7 May, 6.45pm
  • Chelsea vs Leicester City - Wednesday 10 May, 7pm
  • West Ham vs Chelsea - Wednesday 7 May, 8.15pm
  • Chelsea vs Arsenal - Sunday 21 May, 12.30pm
  • Reading vs Chelsea - Saturday 27 May, 2.30pm

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.