Key Takeaways
- Sam Kerr became Chelsea’s all-time top scorer in the Women’s Super League with her 64th goal for the club.
- Lauren James scored twice in the first half, including a stunning free-kick, to help seal a 3-1 victory.
- The win guarantees Chelsea a top-three finish and qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League next season.
Chelsea Women have booked their place in next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League following a 3-1 victory away to Leicester City Women. The result at the King Power Stadium confirms a top-three finish in the Women’s Super League for the West London side.
Australian forward Sam Kerr made history during the match by becoming the Blues’ record goalscorer in the WSL. The striker opened the scoring after thirteen minutes when she rose to head home a cross from Niamh Charles. This was Kerr’s 64th goal in the competition, taking her past previous club records.
The 30-year-old, who has been linked with a summer move to American outfit Denver Summit, spoke about her achievement after the match. “It’s a big achievement for me, it’ll probably sink in in 10 years time when I’m retired!” she told BBC Sport. “Every goal for me is really important, and to do it for a big club like Chelsea is really special.”
England winger Lauren James provided the other highlights of the afternoon with two excellent goals. First, she controlled the ball twenty yards from goal and bent a superb strike past goalkeeper Katie Keane. Six minutes later, James scored directly from a free-kick that crashed against the crossbar before crossing the line.
“I was looking where the keeper was, it was quite close to be fair,” James said about her set-piece technique. “A few people thought I wouldn’t go over, but the keeper gave me the other side and it went top corner.”
Leicester pulled one back before half-time when Lucy Bronze’s backpass fell to Shannon O’Brien, who finished calmly past Livia Peng. Despite this error, Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor felt confident enough to withdraw both James and Erin Cuthbert at the interval to keep them fresh for their upcoming FA Cup semi-final.
“It was part of the plan [to take her off],” Bompastor explained. “But it’s good when you take players off and they want to stay on the pitch. We’re in a good place. We are playing with confidence, right now the training sessions during the week are really good with a lot of intensity.”
Leicester manager Rick Passmoor expressed frustration with his team’s position at the bottom of the table. “The baseline for yourself being a professional is work rate, passion and pride,” he stated. “We are in a difficult position in terms of confidence and momentum.”
The Foxes started the second half with energy but could not create further clear chances against Chelsea’s defence. The visitors controlled the remainder of the match to secure the three points and their European qualification.